An unnamed incubator houses the miracle of Syria’s tragedy: a newborn rescued from the rubble

They heard her crying in the rubble. She was still attached to her mother by the umbilical cord.. The little girl came into the world between suffering and pain, but she was able to resist and take the same strength that her mother had, who, under tons of cement, she fought until her last breath to give birth to the baby her.

Its five-story building collapsed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake early Monday morning. This tremor and its numerous aftershocks have destroyed thousands of residential buildings and killed more than six thousand people in southern Turkey and northern Syria. Among the deceased is the family of the little survivor. His parents and five siblings died in the collapse. Most people were asleep at the time of the earthquakes.

Neighbors searched for survivors. They were digging and removing debris when one of them found her and separated her from her mother. She cut the umbilical cord and the little girl was full of bruises and bruises. Her skin was gray from dust, mixed with red from fresh blood and brown from where she was already dry. The newborn she clung to life from the moment her mother brought her into the world. She endured the weight of the rubble and is now recovering in a maternity incubator.

That it survived is practically a miracle. Her doctor, Hani Maarouf, is in disbelief and explained her diagnosis: “The girl has a big bruise on her back and it’s swollen. She was probably put under a lot of pressure or something fell under the rubble, it’s a big, clear bruise. There are also bruises on the ear, face, forehead and bruises on the ribs.”

The small town of Jinderis, along the Turkish border, was devastated. First, the mother was found dead, ten hours after the earthquake. Then, the small body of the baby appeared. According to the doctors, she had been alive for 3 hours. Mother she spent about 7 hours under the rubble until she managed to give birth and, shortly after, he died, it is not known if from the effort or because of the damage caused by the collapse.

The little one, who she still has no name, she is recovering in an incubator, alone, without family. At the moment, she is learning to open her eyes and bear the pain of her injuries. The world has received her by showing her the worst face of her, and, although she, with only one day of life, already bears the marks of tragedy on her back, she clings to her existence.

The search for survivors continues. Residents do not lose hope. Just like this little girl, there may still be many miraculous rescues worth continuing to help.