Rescuers were shocked to find a newborn alive in a home in northern Syria after the 7.8-magnitude earthquake on Monday, February 7th, 2023. Still tied by her umbilical cord to her mother, who didn’t survive the quake, the infant is the sole survivor of her immediate family.
© Rami al SAYED / AFP
The devastating quake struck Syria and neighboring Turkey and flattened the family’s home in the rebel-held town of Jindayris.
“We heard a voice while we were digging,” Khalil al-Suwadi told AFP Tuesday.
“We cleared the dust and found the baby with the umbilical cord (intact) so we cut it and my cousin took her to the hospital.”
A video showed a man running from the rubble of a collapsed building with the baby covered in dust while a second man met him carrying a blanket to try to warm the newborn. A third person screamed for a car to take her to the hospital.
The baby was taken for treatment in the nearby town of Afrin, where she was hooked to an intravenous drip, her body scarred, and a bandage wrapped around her left fist.
“She is now stable,” pediatrician Hani Maarouf said but noted that she had arrived in bad condition and she had several bruises and lacerations over all her body.
“She also arrived with hypothermia because of the harsh cold. We had to warm her up and administer calcium.”
Across Syria and Turkey, the death toll is currently at 7,700 people.
Anyone looking to help support the rescue efforts can donate to organizations like Save the Children, UNICEF, and Red Cross.
