Arizona man aides rescuers in Florida boy’s extrication from collapsed tower
Jun 26, 2021, 7:00 AM | Updated: Apr 29, 2024, 9:05 pm
PHOENIX — An Arizona man visiting family in Florida aided rescuers in locating one of the missing residents among the collapsed Miami seaside condominium tower on Thursday.
Nicholas Balboa, 31, told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Gaydos and Chad Show on Friday that he was walking his dog when he felt the ground shaking and heard what he initially thought was thunder.
After dropping his dog off upstairs, Balboa went back outside to find out what was happening. As he went down the street, he saw the partial collapse.
He initially started taking photos of the building when he heard 15-year-old Jonah Handler yelling from the rubble.
In his sandals, Balboa managed to climb over broken glass, rebar and concrete once he saw the boy’s hand come out from the debris.
“I started telling him ‘Keep yelling, we can hear you,'” he said.
As Balboa prepared to retrieve more help, the boy said, “Please don’t leave me.”
He stayed by Handler’s side for over 20 minutes, using his phone flashlight to signal over police and firefighters. Once they arrived, they were able to begin their assessment of the situation.
The boy and his mother lived on one of the condo’s at the top of tower.
Handler’s mother, Stacie Fang, was taken out of the rubble and had to have her leg amputated. She succumbed to her injuries Friday, leaving her as the only deceased person to be identified in the collapse.
She was one of four people confirmed dead, leaving around 159 still missing as of Saturday morning.
Considering the gravity of the destruction, Balboa said Handler is “lucky to be alive.”
After recently losing his mother, Balboa sympathizes with the boy’s loss.
“It’s going to be much harder for him than for me,” Balboa said. “He’s lost his home, he’s lost everything and now he’s lost his mother on top of it, I can’t imagine what he’s going to go through.”
Balboa’s father lives in a building similar to the one that collapsed Thursday in Surfside which has left him wondering if something similar could happen again.
“Can these buildings truly crumble at any point?” Balboa said.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the partial collapse.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
