​Teen Miraculously Escapes Bus Tragedy in Peru

Many people accepted Jesus because of his story, and a church was planted in his village.

By Andrew McChesney, adventistmission.org

Thirteen-year-old Pierurco Alcides Valdez Chicata hopped on the crowded bus for the two-hour drive to the city to celebrate Peru’s national holiday in 2016.

His older brother, Wilbur, 45, was driving the bus. All the 21 seats were filled, and three children were standing in the aisle.

After about 30 minutes, Wilbur stopped the bus on the winding, mountainous road. He was feeling sleepy, so he splashed water on his face from a nearby stream.

As the bus continued its journey, Alcides also felt sleepy, and he leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes. He sensed that the bus was picking up speed as it rounded the curves. As the bus hurtled around a curve, it struck a tree and somersaulted down a steep slope.

Alcides can’t remember hearing passengers screaming as the bus fell. He only remembers the bus rolling and his head being slammed against the window and seats. He prayed, “Please, God, help me. Don’t let me die here.”

Bus Splits in Half

Suddenly the bus broke in two, and Alcides was flung out. Lying on his back, he saw suitcases, gas canisters, and boxes of beer falling out of the sky at him. He rolled back and forth to avoid being hit.

Then he heard the screams of the other passengers. Looking around, he saw dead bodies and people with broken arms and legs. Fear swept over him, but then he realized that people needed help. He walked over to someone with a broken leg.

“You’ll be OK,” he said.

Other passengers were dead, so he couldn’t do anything. He saw a 10-year-old boy from his village and helped him sit up. The boy, Odelon, had a large gash on his forehead. After trying help several more people, Alcides returned to the boy and saw that he was dead.

At that moment, he remembered his brother had been driving the bus. He searched for Wilbur and finally found him, badly injured but conscious.

“What happened?” Wilbur said weakly.

Alcides took off his shirt and wiped pebbles and dirt from his brother’s bleeding forehead. Then he realized that he was the only person who wasn’t injured.

Villagers Race to Help

The bus crash occurred near a small village, and the villagers sent a car to help. Alcides recognized some of the rescuers as relatives, and he helped them move the survivors up the slope to the road. One of the rescuers was Wilbur’s adult son. When he saw his father, he collapsed onto the ground in shock.

Someone called Alcides and Wilbur’s mother. She immediately jumped onto a horse and raced to the crash site, arriving in about 30 minutes. When the horse saw the dead bodies, it reared its legs and bucked off the woman. Mother didn’t know that Alcides was on the bus until she saw his sweater on the ground. She looked for his body and, wailing, climbed the slope back up to the road. When she saw Alcides, she cried even more because she thought he was dead.

“You are alive because of God!” she exclaimed. “Thank You, God!”

By this time, the police had arrived, and an officer took Alcides to the hospital for a checkup together with his mother and two badly injured passengers. Wilbur also was sent to the hospital.

After an overnight stay, Alcides was sent home. His brother was transferred to a larger hospital in Cusco, where he underwent multiple surgeries to save his life.

The bus tragedy made national headlines. Even today, no one knows for sure how many people perished. Alcides is aware of only eight of the 24 travelers who survived. Only he was unhurt.

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Story Changes Hearts

Many people in Alcides’ village started going to church to hear his testimony. They believed God had performed a miracle.

“It’s a miracle. You are the only one who is uninjured,” said one.

“You are the son of God because you were spared from death,” said another.

One villager was so astounded that he donated land to build an Adventist church. Mother, grateful to God for sparing both of her sons’ lives, raised the money to construct the building. Up until that time, the handful of Adventist villagers had met in a house-church.

The church now has 25 baptized members, including six who gave their hearts to Jesus through Alcides’ testimony. Seven other villagers, also influenced by Alcides, are taking Bible studies in preparation for baptism.

Wilbur has fully recovered, and Alcides, now 15, is praying that he will accept Jesus.

Alcides hopes to work as a mining engineer one day. But he said he will never stop telling his miraculous bus story.

“I think God spared me to be a testimony to other people,” he said. “I never will stop sharing my love for Jesus and inviting people to Him.”