SURFSIDE, FLA. (WSVN) - Gloria Estefan and her family honored the victims of the Surfside condo collapse on the latest episode of “Red Table Talk: The Estefans” on Facebook Watch.
The legendary singer sat down with 82-year-old survivor Zulia Taub, who described the horrifying moments when the building came crashing down.
“I heard a big noise, and I said how strange, and the building shook. When I opened the door I saw outside that part of the building wasn’t there anymore. The walls were all crumbling down, and there was no way out. I could not comprehend what was happening,” said Taub.
She managed to put on a coat and grab her purse, escaping onto a neighbor’s balcony where she and others screamed out for help.
“The police, everyone was coming, and the lady that was there with me, we all start calling them, ‘Please get us out,'” said Taub.
Firefighters raced to pull Taub and her neighbors out. A photo captured the moment she was helped onto a firetruck with her purse in hand.
Taub had gotten emotional as she told the Estefans, “I lived 22 years there. That was my home. I have very sad and very happy memories because I lost my beautiful neighbors and my friends that they were with me for so many years.”
Estefan surprised Taub by bringing out Sergio Lozano, a longtime friend who lost his parents in the collapse and who took Taub into his home until her daughter could come down from Alabama.
“I’ve known Zulie since I was 18”, said Lozano. “Sergio is another son that I have. To me family is very important,” said Taub.
Although, the surprises didn’t end there.
“No, I can’t believe it. No, I can’t believe it,” she yelled with joy as Estefan also brought out Taub’s 19-year-old grandson Emmett Mixon, who she hasn’t seen since the start of the pandemic.
Mixon thanked the man who had taken care of his grandma during one of the most difficult times of her life.
“I’m so thankful to you for being there for her because I wasn’t able to,” said Mixon to Lozano.
“Sergio, I think you really paid it forward and changed people’s lives,” said Emily Estefan.
The show ended with one more surprise. Taub was reunited with some of the first responders who helped save her life.
“Thank you, my dear, thank you. I pray for you every night,” Taub told one of the first responders.
“I’ll take your prayers, every last one of them,” said one of the first responders.
After many hugs, they all posed for a picture with the purse she had left with that morning.
The Gloria Estefan foundation will be adding $50,000 to the $600,000 already raised for the Surfside Tower collapse program.
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