The 15-year-old boy who was rescued soon after the Champlain Towers South in Surfside partially collapsed — the only survivor of the tragedy so far — met the first responders who helped save him, according to a GoFundMe page set up by his father and family.

Jonah Handler’s mother Stacie Fang was with him when the building partially collapsed in the early morning of June 24. She died later at a hospital.

 

Handler was sitting with his mother when the walls of their condo gave way. They free-fell to “what they thought was certain death,” according to a lawsuit filed on behalf of Handler’s father and Fang’s brother. “Stacie and Jonah landed several floors below and miraculously were still alive.”

Nicholas Balboa, a visitor from Arizona who had been walking his dog, heard Handler’s screams and saw hands and fingers reaching up through the wreckage, he told CNN.

Balboa called first responders, who used air jacks to pull Handler from the wreckage. While Fang was rescued, too, she later died at Aventura Hospital and Medical Center.

 

According to a GoFundMe page created by Jonah’s father Neil Handler “and family,” pictures show Jonah with people who appear to be first responders and others. The caption reads in part: “The first time we saw these nameless heroes was on the news reels as they were pulling my boy out of the rubble … Now with God’s grace we stand next to each other sharing thanks and hope.”

The caption continues: We “have no words to express the gratitude and respect for these men and women who allowed God to use them as His hands to rescue Jonah. …. A very special thanks to all of the 1st responders, especially Dave, Charlie, Kenny, Corey, Cesar and Alex.”

 

The page also says that money raised will go towards Jonah’s “medical expenses, mental health, his mom’s funeral expenses, replacing personal items lost in the debris, his emotional healing and his future education and dreams.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the page, with an intended goal of $150,000, had raised $91,965.