One of the rare reasons for hope and joy among the dramas that have been written since the violent earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria. On Tuesday, as Syrian rescuers searched for survivors in the town of Jandairis, they discovered a live baby, still connected by umbilical cord to his dead mother.
The little girl is the only survivor of a family whose other members died in the collapse of their four-story building. She takes her first name from this tragedy, Aya, which means “miracle” in Arabic.
“I treat her like one of my own”
Hani Marouf, the child’s pediatrician, told the BBC that the baby is now in stable condition, having arrived at Afrin hospital in worrying condition.
“I had bumps, bruises, I was cold and I was barely breathing,” he recalls.
For his part, Khalid Attiah, director of the hospital, claims to have received hundreds of proposals on social networks to adopt the newborn. “I am ready to take care of this child and adopt him,” a Kuwaiti TV presenter also said.
For now, Aya is welcomed by Khalid Attiah’s family. His wife, having had a son four months ago, is able to nurse the miraculously born child.
“I will not allow anyone to adopt her now. Until her extended family returns, I will treat her as one of my own,” he says.
The complicated humanitarian aid in Syria
With more than 3,000 deaths according to the provisional balance, Syria, like its Turkish neighbor, is paying a high human price after the multiple tremors that hit the area on Monday morning. While rescuers are still struggling to find survivors, the BBC estimates that 90% of the town of Jandairis has been destroyed.
Humanitarian aid is difficult to deliver to the rebellious regions of the country, located along the Turkish border. On Thursday, the first aid convoy entered through the Bab al-Hawa border post, according to the UN.
In areas controlled by the Syrian government, planes loaded with humanitarian aid have landed instead since Monday’s tragedy in Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia, coming from, among others, the United Arab Emirates, Russia and Iran.
Source: BFM TV
