The tragic story of a shipwrecked mother who drank her urine to save her children

A shocking story is making the rounds of the international media: Two young children were found on the lifeless body of their mother, who had saved their lives by drinking her urine so that she could breastfeed. The boat they were on had disintegrated and the family was dragged into the sea for days.

40-year-old Mariely Chacón from Venezuela was on board on September 3 with her 6-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter, her husband and nanny. They had embarked on a leisure trip from Higuerote to the Caribbean island of Tortuga.

During the voyage to the uninhabited island, a wave hit the boat and broke it, forcing the group to spend four days at sea, roaming in a boat under the hot sun.

The desperate mother decided that the only way to save her children was by drinking her own urine, so that she could then breastfeed them, according to the information.

Rescuers finally located them. The children were alive as well as their 25-year-old nanny, Verónica Martinez, who was found in an empty refrigerator, trying to save herself from the high temperatures.

The children were found holding their mother’s lifeless body. Both of them and the nanny had suffered dehydration and burns.

Five other people on board – including the children’s father Remis David Camblor – have not been found, according to Newsweek.

Chacón died of organ failure caused by dehydration. “The mother who died kept her children alive by breastfeeding them and drinking her urine”, said a spokesman for the Venezuelan National Maritime Authority (INEA). “He died three or four hours before being rescued from dehydration, as he did not drink water for three days.”

The tragic mother was buried in Caracas on September 11.