Aya: Syrian Girl Found in Rubble, Attached to Her Dead Mother by Umbilical Cord, Gets a Name, Home
Edited By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: February 10, 2023, 15:05 IST
Afrin, Aleppo province, Syria
The infant, who has since been named Aya, Arabic for sign from God, is one of untold numbers of orphans left by Monday’s 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Syria and Turkey. (Image: AP Photo)
The news of Aya and several other children, including some newborns, being pulled out from the rubble alive has brought some cheer and hope in these two grieving nations
Stories of newborns being extracted from under the rubble in earthquake-hit southern Turkey and northwestern Syria is bringing hope to rescue workers and locals amid rising number of deaths.
In Syria’s Jenderis, a baby girl, whose mother died after giving birth to her under the rubble of their home, was given the name ‘Aya’ – which in Arabic translates to “a sign from God”. Even though Aya survived, she, like thousands of other children and newborns, is orphaned as her parents and all her siblings died in the earthquake.
Aya was found on Monday afternoon, nestled within debris, and still connected by umbilical cord to her dead mother Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was spotted beside her dead husband and four other children, who were also dead.
Aya was rushed to a hospital in Afrin and doctors heaved a sigh of relief when they found out her spine sustained no damages. “We named her Aya, so we could stop calling her a new-born baby,” Dr Hani Maarouf at Cihan hospital in Afrin was quoted as saying by Associated Press. Maarouf further added that Aya’s condition continues to improve.
The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey Monday has so far claimed more than 22,000 lives and injured tens of thousands. Several city blocks in Turkey’s Gaziantep, Hatay and Antakya and in Syria’s Aleppo and Azaz have turned to rubble.
Luckily, Aya has found a home. Her uncle Salah al-Badran, will take her in once she is released from the hospital, but Salah told news agency Associated Press that his own house has been destroyed.
He is currently living in a tent with 11 members of his own family.
“After the earthquake, there’s no one able to live in his house or building. Only 10% of the buildings here are safe to live in and the rest are unliveable,” Salah was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Northwestern Syria has been hard-hit due to the earthquake because of the dilapidated infrastructure of the region. The region was already affected by a 12-year-old civil war and though the Bashar-al Assad regime has vowed to support ‘all Syrians’, experts cast doubt regarding the quality of assistance that will be provided to those living in the rebel-held areas.
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