Legend says that deep in Venezuela, the Apure River roars—
a wild branch of the Orinoco, swollen with rain, swirling with whirlpools, sharp-toothed piranhas, and caimans with jaws strong enough to snap a tree in half. Even the bravest men feared to cross it.

But in 1932, in the town of San Fernando, a girl only ten years old accepted a challenge no one believed possible: to swim across the furious river and survive. Her name was Trina Omaira Salerno—and her story became a legend.

With her father following nervously in a canoe, Trina plunged into the raging waters. She fought the twisting current, slipped past the dreaded piranhas, and outpaced the snapping jaws of caimans. For half an hour she battled the river, while the whole town stood on the banks, holding its breath.

And when at last she pulled herself onto the far shore—soaked, trembling, but alive—the people of San Fernando erupted in cheers that rose louder than the river’s roar.

👻 Gather close, because tonight on Once Upon a Scare, we tell the incredible legend of Trina Omaira—the child who tamed the river.