A Silent Stillness-Buried Alive

On Monday, January 10, 2005, it took just eight seconds for fifty-six-year-old nurse Diane Hart to be buried alive while in her home during the La Conchita landslide. Buried thirty feet under the mountain and covered by rocks, mud, and the tangled debris of her displaced home, she struggles to survive with only a two-by-two-foot airspace with collapsed lungs and multiple broken bones. While entombed, she reflects on her life, what led her to this place in time, and whether she has made a positive impact on others. After an out-of-body experience, she finds contentment and peace, whether she lives or dies. Motivated by the desire to see her grandchildren grow up and to see her family again, she finds the strength to stay alive while rescuers desperately search for her. After facing death and passing through judgment from God, she could not leave her family now-a family in crisis. Eight seconds is all it took for the entire mountain to come down and destroy twenty-seven homes, kill ten people, and injure eight more. A Silent Stillness tells the inspiring story of her faith, hope, and survival after losing everything she owns-including her health-and trapped deep beneath the rubble for four and a half hours.