Tale of rescue after falling several floors in Florida building collapse apnews.com

Photo: Liyah Deveauxd via AP

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — When 16-year-old rising volleyball star Deven Gonzalez was pulled from the rubble of her Miami condo building, her initial reaction amid the shock was to tell firefighters that she had to compete in a major tournament in a few days.

The teen’s world revolved around volleyball. She played beach volleyball, on her high school team and with a competitive travel club team. From her hospital bed where she’s undergone multiple surgeries for a broken femur, she apologized profusely to her coach for missing their final practice.

“I said, ‘Let’s focus on you right now and not volleyball,’” said club coach Amy Morgan, who described Gonzalez as extremely determined, passionate and unrelenting in pursuing her goals.

Gonzalez lived with her parents on the ninth floor of Champlain Towers South. She and her mother, Angela Gonzalez, fell several stories before being rescued on the fifth floor, she told her coach. Her mother was among the survivors pulled from the rubble and is still hospitalized with serious injuries, Morgan told The Associated Press.

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