SoFla Sons Rejoice After Mom Pulled From Rubble

Mom trapped in market in Haiti rescued by first responder team

After days of worry and uncertainty, two South Florida brothers whose mother was missing in Haiti got the call they never thought would come yesterday: their mother was still alive.

Mireille Dittmer spent days trapped in the rubble with sixty other survivors in a collapsed five-story supermarket in Port-au-Prince after the building collapsed when the massive 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit.

Dittmer's two sons, Richie and Mikey, who live in Pembroke Pines, spent days listening and watching the latest information coming out of Haiti, hoping to hear something about their mother.

Yesterday, the miracle came.

"At around 7:15 I got a call from Joe Rodriguez from the Miami Fire Department and he notified me that he had confirmed that he got my mother Mireille Dittmer out of the building, out of the supermarket in Haiti," a relieved Richie Dittmer said. "It's just fantastic."

Mireille was actually rescued by a South Florida First Responder team, in Haiti for disaster relief.

The 49-year-old was perhaps trapped in the best possible place to be trapped, surrounded by food to aid her survival.

"I'm so grateful to the rescuers from the Miami Fire Department that pulled her out of the rubble and saved her life because they came not a moment too soon," Richie said.

Mireille is on her way back to Miami, headed to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment.
 
"The news we've been waiting for all this time," Ritchie said. "I just cannot wait to speak to my mom."

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