Three people were pulled alive from the rubble of the Champlain Towers South collapse on June 24, 2021, and another 35 were rescued from the portion of the building left standing. Everyone else inside the eastern wing — 98 people — died. Five years on, the Surfside condo collapse survivors are still dealing with broken bodies, lasting trauma, and a class-action settlement that approached $1.2 billion.
The Three Pulled From the Rubble
Only three people survived the actual fall of the building’s eastern section: 15-year-old Jonah Handler and a mother and daughter, Angela and Deven Gonzalez.
Jonah Handler
Handler and his mother, Stacie Dawn Fang, were in their 10th-floor unit when the building gave way. A man walking his dog near the site spotted Handler in the wreckage and alerted rescuers, who heard him screaming and saw his hands pushing up through the debris. “Don’t leave me, don’t leave me,” he pleaded as first responders used pneumatic air jacks to free him.1ABC News. Victims of Surfside Condo Collapse Fang was also pulled out alive and taken to a hospital, where she died.2New York Post. Florida Building Collapse Survivor Sues Condo Board
Handler suffered 12 compression fractures in his spine along with other broken bones.3NBC News. A Year After Condo Collapse, Surfside Survivors Focus on Healing His father, Neil Handler, said thunderstorms left Jonah “paralyzed with fear” because the sound recalled the building falling around him.4NBC Miami. After Surviving Surfside Condo Collapse, Teen Finds New Purpose An aspiring baseball player, Jonah threw out the first pitch at a Miami Marlins game in October 2021. He and his father later founded the Phoenix Life Project, a 501(c)(3) that provides trauma-focused mental health services, including EMDR, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and trauma-informed counseling, to first responders, veterans, and the Surfside community.5Phoenix Life Project. Phoenix Life Project By the fifth anniversary in June 2026, Neil Handler said he and Jonah would not attend memorial events and preferred to focus on moving forward.6WUNC. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, the Toll of the Tragedy Remains
Angela and Deven Gonzalez
Angela Gonzalez and her 16-year-old daughter, Deven, were in their ninth-floor unit when they heard a noise and felt the building shake. As they tried to flee, the floor gave way. Angela grabbed Deven as they fell, and the two were separated in the debris, landing according to early reports near the fifth floor and eventually at roughly the third-floor level.7NBC News. Mother, Daughter Should Not Be Alive After Condo Collapse Deven, trapped with a crushed left leg and a protruding femur, banged on pots and pans to draw rescuers in, then directed them toward her mother, who was pinned nearby.8NPR. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, a Surviving Family Struggles to Move On Paramedics said the two “should not be alive.”
Angela suffered a smashed pelvis now held together with metal hardware, a collapsed lung, and spinal injuries. Deven’s broken femur ended her competitive high school volleyball career. On being rescued, she told firefighters she had a major tournament in a few days and later apologized to her coach from her hospital bed for missing practice.9Newsweek. Over $100K Raised for Volleyball Player Deven Gonzalez and Her Family After Surfside Collapse Angela’s husband and Deven’s father, Edgar Gonzalez, a 45-year-old lawyer, was killed; his body was recovered two weeks later.8NPR. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, a Surviving Family Struggles to Move On
Five years later, the family was still working through the aftermath. Angela, a mental health counselor, experienced suicidal ideation in the years following the collapse. She has since remarried and required further hip surgery. Deven started college and spoke at the fifth anniversary, urging the public to “look at the mistakes from the past and make sure that we don’t make that again.”10WSVN. Survivors and Loved Ones Mark 5-Year Anniversary of Surfside Condo Collapse Angela told NPR: “I don’t think it — we’re ever going to fully be OK, and I think it’s OK.”8NPR. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, a Surviving Family Struggles to Move On
The 35 Rescued From the Standing Portion
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue confirmed that 35 people were rescued from the portion of the building that remained standing.11ABC News. Survivors Recount Horror of Surfside Building Collapse They were stranded on balconies, trapped behind blocked doors, and stuck in units where hallways and staircases had partially crumbled. Firefighters used ladder trucks to lift people off upper-floor balconies and carried injured residents down on backboards. At least 11 people were treated on-site, and four were taken to hospitals.
Paolo Longobardi, a resident and civil engineer, found the staircase outside his unit collapsing. He led his family to the north side of the building, located an intact stairwell, and inspected it for damage before they descended.11ABC News. Survivors Recount Horror of Surfside Building Collapse
Steve Rosenthal, 72, had lived in unit 705 for two decades. Awakened by what sounded like a thunderclap, he found his ceiling falling and his front door blocked by fallen beams. He retreated to his balcony and was lifted to safety in a fire department ladder truck bucket. The destruction, he said, “stopped three feet from my door.”12Miami Herald. Champlain Towers South Survivor Worries About Future Rosenthal lost everything he owned. When Miami-Dade police later recovered a drawstring bag from the rubble containing his bar mitzvah prayer shawl and tefillin, items he had kept for 60 years, he described it as a message from his parents, both Holocaust survivors. The experience drew him back to daily religious observance at a synagogue in Brickell, where he rented an apartment for $3,700 a month after a stint in a hotel.13WLRN. Champlain Towers South Survivor Worries About His Retirement After Losing His Apartment His planned retirement, funded by selling his unit for an estimated $1 million or more, was suddenly gone.
Lasting Injuries and Trauma
The physical injuries read like a hospital intake sheet: 12 spinal compression fractures for Handler, a crushed pelvis and collapsed lung for Angela Gonzalez, a career-ending femur fracture for Deven. The mental harm has been just as persistent. Handler’s terror during storms. Rosenthal’s insomnia and anxiety, the latter so severe he said he jumped “two feet in the air” at the sound of thunder.12Miami Herald. Champlain Towers South Survivor Worries About Future Angela Gonzalez’s suicidal ideation. Deven’s admission, five years on, that she had never really taken a break to process what happened.8NPR. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, a Surviving Family Struggles to Move On
Experts warned early on of toxic stress, grief, and trauma that put survivors, families of the dead, and first responders at risk for PTSD and depression.14ABC News. Surfside Building Collapse’s Mental Toll Mental wellness peer teams were deployed for responders, and local officials pushed for federal PTSD support for rescue workers who had operated in what they described as warzone conditions. The Phoenix Life Project, founded by the Handlers, aimed to reach more than 500 affected people, including relatives of victims and first responders.3NBC News. A Year After Condo Collapse, Surfside Survivors Focus on Healing
The Settlement
Litigation moved unusually fast. A suit filed on behalf of Jonah Handler by his father and uncle alleged the condominium association knew the building was “structurally unsound, unsafe, and at grave risk of collapse,” pointing to a 2018 engineering report that flagged widespread structural damage.2New York Post. Florida Building Collapse Survivor Sues Condo Board Rosenthal joined the class-action suit but expressed frustration that unit owners who lost their only homes were being overshadowed by heirs of the deceased.12Miami Herald. Champlain Towers South Survivor Worries About Future
On June 23, 2022, Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Michael Hanzman granted final approval to a class-action settlement totaling approximately $1.02 billion.15Spectrum News 13. $1 Billion Settlement for Surfside Victims Gets Final Approval The fund combined insurance proceeds, lawsuit damages, and the $120 million sale of the collapse site. Of the total, $96 million was set aside for condo unit owners who lost property, and roughly $100 million was designated for legal fees; the bulk went to families of the deceased and to those with personal injuries.16CNN. Surfside Condo Collapse Settlement Decision Court-appointed claims administrators oversaw distribution, with individual payouts varying by case.17ABC News. Total Surfside Building Collapse Settlement Now Tops Billion By 2026, some reporting placed the final total closer to $1.2 billion.6WUNC. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, the Toll of the Tragedy Remains
Defendants included the condominium association, engineering firms Morabito Consultants and DeSimone Consulting Engineers, the law firm Becker & Poliakoff (which had represented the association), developers of the neighboring 87 Park luxury tower, various contractors and consultants, and the Town of Surfside.15Spectrum News 13. $1 Billion Settlement for Surfside Victims Gets Final Approval All denied liability. For some survivors, settlement money changed day-to-day life: the Gonzalez family eventually received a portion that allowed them to buy a new home.
No criminal charges have been filed against anyone connected to the collapse. Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle convened a grand jury that issued a 43-page report in December 2021 recommending reforms, including more frequent building recertification.18Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office. Save Lives, Not Just Money: Surfside Collapse Grand Jury Report As of June 2026, prosecutors said any criminal investigation remains pending until the final NIST report is complete.6WUNC. 5 Years After the Surfside Condo Collapse, the Toll of the Tragedy Remains
Where Survivors Are Now
On June 24, 2026, survivors, bereaved families, and Miami-Dade officials gathered at the renamed 98 Points of Light Way for the fifth anniversary. A torch was lit at 1:15 a.m., the moment the building fell, and all 98 victims’ names were read aloud at a morning ceremony.10WSVN. Survivors and Loved Ones Mark 5-Year Anniversary of Surfside Condo Collapse Larissa Gromova, mother of victim Anastasia Gromova, told reporters: “For me it’s not five years, it’s just a whole piece of time, but some part of us is still there.” The Handlers stayed away. The Gonzalez family attended, and Deven spoke publicly.
The survivors of Champlain Towers South occupy an unusual space, alive because of inches, seconds, and the instinct to grab a daughter or retreat to a balcony. They carry injuries that require further surgery, anxiety triggered by thunder, and the weight of having lived through something that killed their neighbors, parents, and spouses. Their settlement checks arrived. No one has been criminally charged.