Just months after a devastating plane crash in Northeast Philadelphia claimed eight lives and shook an entire neighborhood, one small survivor is showing signs of remarkable strength.
Ramesses Vazquez Viana, a 9-year-old boy who suffered burns on 90% of his body, is recovering at Shriners Children’s Hospital in Boston, clinging to life and defying the odds with each passing day.
“He can hear me. He can see me. He can tell you if he’s in pain,” his mother, Jamie Vazquez Viana, who remains by her son’s bedside told CBS News. “He can say my name—and that’s what keeps me going.”
The tragic incident occurred on January 31, when a medical transport plane crashed in a Northeast Philadelphia neighborhood, killing all six people aboard and two others on the ground—including Ramesses’ father and his father’s girlfriend.
Ramesses had been sitting in a car that caught fire after the crash. Miraculously, with only the soles of his feet left unburned, the boy managed to walk into St. Christopher’s Hospital on his own.
Doctors called his survival “nothing short of a miracle.” He had no internal injuries despite being engulfed in flames. By the next day, he was airlifted to Boston, where he has since undergone multiple surgeries and faces a long road to recovery.
Matt Rourke/AP
Among his most serious injuries are partial amputations to both hands, leaving only his thumbs intact. Skin grafts will be a years-long process, and daily dressing changes are grueling, often taking hours.
Meanwhile, Jamie Vazquez Viana is navigating a dual reality—caring for Ramesses in Boston while longing for her other children and husband in Philadelphia.
“I think about Christmas,” she said through tears. “It’s hard to be here and there.”
Still, she refuses to leave her son’s side, drawing strength from the city that continues to lift them both up.
“Philadelphia and everybody else have come together for him,” she said. “Continue praying, he still needs it.”
There is currently no timeline for when Ramesses will be well enough to return home.
But for now, each word he speaks and every flicker of recognition is a powerful reminder of resilience in the face of unthinkable loss.
