- Hi, I'm aspiring investigator Anthony Chorizo,
and today, I'm going to be examining
this famous Hispanic phrase.
For years, parents have repeated this quote
to their children to heal their injuries,
but does this phrase actually have the power to heal,
or is it simply a placebo?
I'm going to begin my investigation with Ramon Sanchez.
He claims this phrase has saved him numerous times.
Thank you for doing this interview with me Ramon.
To start off, can you explain to me the first time
you experienced this phenomenon?
- Yeah, I was about five years old.
I was running inside the house.
I tripped and scraped my knee.
Next thing I know, my mom's rubbing my knee,
and then says
- And what happened after that?
- Well, the pain stopped.
- And you think the phrase is what helped you?
- After she said that, it was as if nothing ever happened.
- Interesting, so now that you're an adult,
what do you do when you get injured?
- I actually go to this lady named Veronica.
She specializes in 'Sana sana colita de rana'
- I guess I have to give this Veronica a visit.
- Well she only takes appointments,
so you would have to call her and make an appointment first.
- That's not what I meant.
Thanks to Ramon's tip,
I decided I needed to investigate Veronica.
Apparently, she is known as the local healer
in her community, but how does someone with no record
of attending medical school cure people?
We just arrived to Veronica's residence.
Hopefully, she'll be willing to speak with us.
Hi, I'm Anthony Chorizo.
I'm with the ABCDEF Network,
and I'm doing an investigative story.
I was wondering if I could ask you a couple questions.
- About what?
- About a certain phrase that you're known for.
Sana sana colita de rana?
- Yes, would you be willing to sit down for an interview?
- It looks like we're gonna have to do this the hard way.
Since Veronica is unwilling to speak with me,
I decided to put up posters around her neighborhood
in the search for leads.
About 30 minutes passed when I got a call.
A person who I'm going to name Joe
claims they're a client of Veronica.
For his safety, he asked for his identity to be hidden.
So Joe, how long have you been going to Veronica?
- About four years.
- What exactly do you go to her for?
- For everything.
If I'm ever in any pain, she always heals me.
- And you're not concerned
that she doesn't have a medical license?
- Not really, if she heals me, then who cares?
- Don't you think it's a little strange
that just by her saying a phrase, it heals you?
- I mean, at first I did find it strange,
but it works for me.
She even healed my broken heart by saying that.
- Is Joe telling the truth?
I find it hard to believe Veronica's healing her patients
with only a simple phrase,
so I installed a hidden microphone on her window
to see if I could hear what else is happening.
I was able to capture audio for one of her patients.
This is what I recorded.
I can walk again!
- How is it possible this man went from
being paralyzed to jumping high enough for the NBA?
I needed to speak with a medical professional.
Dr. Jimenez, thank you for taking this interview with me.
I guess I'll start by saying is it possible
for words to heal someone?
- Short answer is no.
- What is the long answer?
- Well the long answer is absolutely not.
- Interesting.
I'm doing an investigation on a popular Hispanic phrase
that people claim has healing powers.
The phrase goes like this.
- I take it you've heard this phrase before?
- Of course, I grew up hearing it.
- So with your professional medical background,
can you give me insight into why people may think
this phrase heals? - Because it does.
- I'm sorry, what? - That phrase heals people.
- So do you apply that phrase in your medical practice?
- Oh no, I can't do that.
Only Hispanic mothers have the power
to heal with those words.
- I see.
Well, thank you Dr. Jimenez.
I think you've helped me enough.
My investigation so far has led me to believe
the phrase may in fact have healing power,
but I still wanted to hear from the source.
Okay Veronica, quit with all the games.
How are you really healing these people?
Are you a witch?
- If you're not a witch,
then how are you healing these people with a simple phrase?
- I don't.
- I saw you make a paralyzed man walk again.
That is clearly the work of black magic.
- Wait, so you're telling me
that you didn't actually heal him?
Sana sana colita de rana doesn't actually heal you
It makes you think that you feel better.
- And there it is, the truth I had been searching for.
I can now confirm that this famous Hispanic phrase
cannot actually heal.
It is simply a placebo.
Hispanic mothers have fooled us for centuries
into thinking they possess some magical healing powers
when in fact they are no more than con artists.
My name is Anthony Chorizo,
and this concludes my investigation.