Two survivors of the Surfside condo collapse were recently reunited a week after tragedy struck the area, with a rescued woman breaking down in tears after seeing her rescuer for the first time.
The two shared a tearful reunion for an interview, with them hugging and the rescuer asking 'Como estas?' casually to the woman he helped save by carrying on his shoulders as she struggled to make it down the stairs.
They could've been victims of last Thursday's collapse of Champlain Towers South, which has left at least 22 dead and 126 missing.
Esther Gorfinkel, an 88-year-old grandmother, was in her bed in Unit 509 when she heard a 'boom,' as she described it.
'My bed shake,' Esther said to CNN. 'My apartment is shaking.'
Alfredo Lopez and Esther Gorfinkel shared a tearful reunion after their escape from the collapsed condo last week
Gorfinkel became tearful while recounting the person that helped save her life
A rescuer visits the 'Surfside Wall of Hope & Memorial' near the partially collapsed 12-story Champlain Towers South condo building in Surfside, Florida on July 2
She managed to make her way to the stairwell, where she encountered Alfredo Lopez, whose family escaped from Unit 605.
'I remember Esther told me she had - her knee was bothering her and she wanted to stop, Alfredo said. 'I told her, "Stopping is not an option."'
Alfredo said that it didn't occur to him to give up on the rescue, adding that 'she's a human being.'
Alfredo picked her up because Esther couldn't walk on her own and tossed her over his shoulder before carrying her down the stairs.
'I don't know how many flights of stairs,' Alfredo said of the descent. 'It couldn't have been that many because I'm really not that strong.'
'He just picked me up,' Esther said.
Later in the interview, Esther added, 'In that minute, you don't talk. You don't say anything ... let's run, let's run, let's run, let's go.'
They made it to the garage, where water was ankle deep and the ceiling had collapsed, making their escape more perilous.
'There was one car that was pancaked on top of another car that was pancaked on top of a huge slab of concrete,' Alfredo said of the scene.
The two shared a tearful reunion for an interview, with them hugging and the rescuer asking 'Como estas?' casually to the woman he helped save
Alfredo said that there was no change he was leaving Esther behind during the collapse
Alfredo is reportedly suffering from survivor's guilt after surviving the disaster, though
Alfredo's son helped push Esther up and out of the garage with another man named Albert Aguero reportedly pulling on her as Alfredo
