Her son Benito, who was then eight years old, was sent up the hill to a little shop half a mile away to buy a kitchen knife. "We had a knife but it wasn't that sharp." In her desperation not to lose another child, Ines cut into her womb as if cutting a tortilla. "Blood came out of me like a fountain." Pushing aside her internal organs, she rummaged around inside and pulled out her son. To her great joy, the baby cried, and appeared healthy, but Ines's ordeal was only just beginning. As mother and baby lay on the floor, Ines cut the umbilical cord before putting her organs back in place as best as she could. "It was all a mess," she remembers.