Omaira Sanchez was a 12-year-old girl who was trapped for 3 days in mud, water, her dead relatives, and the debris of her house after the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia erupted in 1985. The photo was said to be taken only a few minutes before the girl died of a heart attack. Many people criticized the photographer for not doing anything to save the girl. The photo was published a few months after her death.