- Alice Cuddy in Samandag, Turkey
- BBC News
Little Yagiz was only 10 days old when the earthquake struck. He emerged unharmed after almost 4 days under the rubble.
It’s been just over a week since a deadly earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing thousands of people. But amid the despair, there have been stories of “miracles.” This is one of them.
When Necla Camuz gave birth to her second son on January 27, she named him Yagiz, which means “brave.”
Ten days later, at 04:17 local time, Necla isI was awake and feeding her son at home in Hatay province, southern Turkey. Bit after were left buried under piles of rubble.
Necla and her family lived on the second floor of a modern five-story building in the city of Samandag. It was a “good building,” she says, and until then she had felt safe there.
I couldn’t imagine that the entire area would be torn apart by the earthquake that morning, with buildings damaged and destroyed at every turn.
“When the tremor started, I wanted to go to my husband, in the other room. He wanted to do the same,” says Necla.
“But when he tried to come toward me with our other son, the closet fell on them ands it was impossible to move.“
With the minutes, the situation worsened.
“As the earthquake got bigger, the wall fell, the room shook and the building kept changing position. When unemploymentI did not realize that it had fallen a floor down. I called out the names of my son and my husband, but there was no response. “
Necla, 33, was seen lying down with her baby still in her arms and on her chest. A cabinet that had fallen right next to him saved both of their lives. by preventing a large concrete slab from crushing them.
Mother and son were in this position for almost four days.
Day one
In her pajamas, lying among the rubble, Necla could see nothing, everything was “completely dark”. She had to rely on her other senses to figure out what was going on.
To his relief, he immediately realized that his son Yagiz was still breathing.
At first, due to the dust, she found it difficult to breathe, but she says she calmed down soon.
The rubble under which Necla was buried for 90 hours with her son.
She felt like she had fallen on top of several toys, but she couldn’t maneuver herself more comfortably. The debris from her also made her keep warm.
Other than the cabinet nestled next to her, the soft skin of her newborn son, and the clothes they both wore, she couldn’t feel anything but cement and rubble.
From afar, he could hear voices. He tried yelling for help and hitting the closet.
“Is anyone there? Can anyone hear me?”
Since that didn’t work, he picked up small bits of debris that had fallen next to him. She slammed them against the closet, hoping that would make it louder, but afraid to do it so hard that the structure above her and her baby would collapse.
Still no response.
Necla realized that there was a chance that no one would come. She “she was terrified.”
life underground
In the dark under the rubble, Necla lost all sense of time.
I thought this was not how life was supposed to be. “You plan a lot when you have a new baby and suddenly you’re under rubble,” she says.
Still, he knew that he had to take care of Yagiz and was able to breastfeed in ewith space tan reduced.
He had no access to any source of water or food. desperate, iHe tried unsuccessfully to drink his own breast milk.
Necla could feel the rumble of the drills overhead, hear footsteps and voices, but the sounds, muffled by the pile of rubble, felt far away.
Decided to save energy and stay quiet unless felt that the noises from outside are comingban.
She constantly thought of her family: the baby at her breast and her husband and other son lost somewhere in the rubble.
She was also concerned about how other loved ones had fared in the earthquake.
image source, Ekrem Imamoglu
Yagiz stayed close to his mother’s chest for 90 hours, who nursed and calmed him down.
Necla didn’t think she would make it out of the rubble, but Yagiz’s presence gave him a reason to hope.
The baby slept most of the time, and when he woke up crying, she quietly fed him until he calmed down.
The rescue
After more than 90 hours, almost 4 days underground, Necla heard los barking of los dogs. He wondered if he was dreaming.
The barking was followed by voices.
“Are you okay? Tap once to say yes”yelled someone from the rubble. “What apartment do you live in?”
Rescuers carefully dug into the ground to locate her while she was holding Yagiz.
Darkness it broke by the light of a torch that dazzled her
When the rescue team from the Istanbul Municipal Fire Department asked how old Yagiz was, Necla was unable to give an accurate answer. All she knew is that the child was 10 days old when the earthquake occurred.
After handing over Yagiz to the rescuers, moved to Neclaon a stretcher in front of what appeared to be a large crowd. She couldn’t recognize any faces.
As she was transferred to an ambulance, she wanted to know if her other son had also been saved.
after the rubble
When she arrived at the hospital, several relatives were waiting for Necla. she told him that Irfan, her husband, whom she had married 6 years ago, and her 3-year-old son, Yigit Kerim, had also been rescued from the rubble.
Although they were transferred to a hospital in the province of Adana, hours away, when they verified that they had suffered serious injuries to their legs and feet.
Surprisingly, Necla and Yagiz they suffered no serious physical injuries. They were under observation in the hospital for 24 hours before being released.
Necla had no home to return to, but and familiar took her back to a makeshift shelter, a blue tent made of wood and canvas. There are 13 members of his family there. They have all lost their homes.
Necla was finally reunited with her husband Irfan and their three-year-old son, Yigit Kerim.
In the tent, the family supports each other. They make coffee on a small stove, play chess and share stories.
Necla is “trying” to come to terms with what happened to her. Say thatue and debt to Yagiz having saved his life.
“I think if my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this, I wouldn’t have been able to either,” she explains.
Her only dream for her son is that he never experiences anything like this again.
“I am very happy that it is a newborn baby. Nor he will remember anything”she says.
Suddenly she receives a call and Necla smiles. From a hospital bed, Irfan and Yigit Kerim smile and wave.
“Hello warrior, how are you my son?”, ask Irfan your baby through the screen.
Additional reporting by Emrah Bulut.
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