He lost an arm in the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Now, he’ll be a missionary

Gancci Saintelus was 5 years old when he miraculously survived a 7.0 magnitude earthquake; 14 years later, he’s preparing to share the gospel in Florida

Published: May 30, 2024, 5:04 p.m. MDT

Gancci Saintelus, then 5 years old, is pictured after the amputation of his arm in Miami, Florida, in 2010. Gancci was trapped under the rubble of his family's collapsed apartment building after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti in January 2010. Jennifer Samuels

Gancci Saintelus doesn’t remember the tragedy.

He was 5 years old when a devastating 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, leaving 220,000 people dead and 300,000 injured, NPR reported.

The Saintelus family’s three-story apartment complex in Port-au-Prince collapsed on Gancci, his two younger siblings and a caretaker. The children’s father, Olghen, was at work, and their mother, Soline, was at the Centrale Ward building, meeting with the bishop about a new calling, Church News reported.

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