A woman who was filmed being swept away by a torrent of water in one of the most viral Spanish flood tragedy videos to date is still alive and has spoken about her ‘horror story’.
Conchi Serrano smiled as she gave her first interview on Spanish TV channel Canal Sur, saying: “I have lived through a real horror story and it is a miracle that I am still alive.”
But she owes it all to Nicolas, a brave resident who jumped into the water to save her, she said.
‘The bit you see in the video footage is when I’ve let go of the tree I was holding on to and the water sweeps me away, and that’s when a man appears holding on to a fence in a ground-level plot and he jumps in. the water to try to save me.
‘As fate would have it, he had a jacket and with the jacket he grabbed me and said, ‘Hold me, hold me, stay calm, stay calm’ as I struggled to breathe.”
A woman who was filmed being swept away by a torrent of water in one of the most viral videos to date to emerge from the Spanish flood tragedy is alive and has spoken out about her ‘horror story’
Conchi Serrano said: ‘I have lived through a real horror story and it is a miracle that I am still alive’
Conchi, who was physically unharmed despite her near-death experience, said that after the man came to her aid, the couple ended up on the doorstep of an apartment building.
She explained that as the water rose, they tried to get in to a place they knew would be safe, but the buzzer didn’t work due to power outages in the area.
‘I shouted, ‘Get a hammer,’ but they couldn’t do anything. As we stared death in the face, the pressure of the water forced the door open and that saved us.
‘But there was another problem: the elevator on the ground floor filled with water and if you were knocked over and fell into the elevator, you died.
‘I was dragged to the lift as if I was being flushed down a toilet and the man grabbed me by his jacket again and shouted, ‘No, not the lift, you’re going to die, wait a minute, hold on, hold on’ from the stair railings. ”
‘The balustrade gave way and my rescuer stood on the stairs trying with all his might to pull me up to where he was as I was dragged by the force of the water towards the lift.
‘Another man who lived in the block rushed to help him and because I don’t weigh much they were able to get me to safety.
“That’s why I’m here today to tell my story. They took me to one of the flats and calmed me down, dried my clothes and gave me blankets and made me call my partner to tell him everything was fine.
People clear a muddy street next to piled up cars after heavy rain in Alfafar, in Valencia, Spain, November
Members of the fire brigade, part of a search and rescue unit, carry out work as cars and rubble block a tunnel following the recent flash floods in the nearby municipality of Benetusser on November 1
People walk through flooded streets in Valencia
‘I spent most of the night there until the water level dropped and I could leave.
‘I told the man who saved my life, whose only name is Nicolas, that I owed him my life and that I wanted to keep in touch with him.
“We didn’t exchange phone numbers, but I know he lives close to me, but it’s a big city and we didn’t know each other.
“But a woman in the apartment building who gave me dry clothes and let us use her cell phone to call our loved ones and let them know we were okay will have his people’s numbers in her calling history.
“When I go back to her house to return the clothes, I will ask her for his number and once again express my gratitude to the other man who saved my life.
“Nicolas was the one who fought and fought against the water with me.”
Conchi explained why she ended up in the water in the first place: ‘I had come home from work and heard people shouting and a lot of noise and cars turning the wrong way.
“People shouted, ‘Water is coming’ and moved their vehicles.
A woman looks out from her balcony as vehicles are stuck on the streets during flooding in Valencia
‘I thought about my van parked some distance from my house and decided to look at it, not suspecting that a raging flood would come.
‘The pavement was dry, but as I crossed the road to get to my van I realized I was going to have to get wet.
‘I had never seen such a deluge of water as the one that came and I did not realize the gravity of the situation.
‘Then I saw my rescuer Nicolas for the first time and asked him what was going on.
‘He warned me not to move the van and said it was fine there because it was my idea to drive it up the hill and I saw people moving their cars.
‘I just went to the van to look and started calling people. While I was talking to my dad, I noticed that the water was up to the wheels of the van and I decided to just park the van on the sidewalk.
‘In my ignorance and not knowing what was going on elsewhere or what was going to happen, I kept calling people and got distracted.
‘Suddenly water entered the vehicle and I struggled to get out. I still did not realize the severity of the situation and put the car documents in my blouse so that they would not get wet, and then I was carried away by the water.
‘I managed to grab a tree and shouted for help. People threw sheets and ladders at me, but that was impossible.
‘Then cars started coming towards me at high speed as they were being swept away by the water.
“If I had been hit by a car, that would have been the end of me and they would have come very close.”
Conchi’s older sister Maria, who was also interviewed on the same programme, said as she burst into tears: ‘When I saw the video footage, I immediately knew it was my sister.
“I know a lot of viewers will know what I’m saying because when you have a sister or a child that you love so much, you just know it and it was real.
“I am so sorry for the people who have lost loved ones. I am fortunate to say that my sister is safe, and my family is safe and healthy.
“Everything else, money, work, doesn’t matter to me when it comes down to it.”