Over 44,000 people died in the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria in February this year.
Baby Afraa was the only one in her family to survive.
In connection with the earthquake, she was born. Afraa was found under the rubble of her home with her mother, father and four siblings. All dead.
“Determined to save her”
Her aunt’s husband Khalil tells the BBC how he saw the family’s house collapse. He was also the one who pulled Afraa out of the racial masses.
When they came to what had once been a house, a scream was heard.
– We were determined to save her, we knew she would be the only memory left of her family.
When Afraa was found, the umbilical cord was still attached to the mother. A dramatic video of the rescue went viral on social media – and Afraa became known as Aya, which means miracle in Arabic.
When she was taken to the hospital, her chest had been so badly damaged that she could hardly breathe. Today, the miracle baby Afraa turned six months old.
Military police guarded Afraa at the hospital
She lives with her aunt Hala and Khalil. She is described as a “typically healthy and happy baby”. The damage from the earthquakes is no longer visible.
But the great attention was not only positive for Hala and Khalil.
Several thousand people offered to adopt Afraa and the fear that someone would kidnap her was strong. In order for Khalil and Hala to take over custody, they had to do a DNA test. The result would take ten days.
While waiting, they spent almost all the time with Afraa in the hospital.
“Both the civilian and military police helped us protect her,” Khalil told the BBC.
The house was destroyed
Afraa’s first two months of life were spent in tents. Khalil and Hala’s house was also destroyed in the earthquake.
Today they rent a house, which they will have to move out of, however, due to the high cost.
However, Khalil points out that there are many who have it worse and that “he had another child”.
– When she grows up, I will tell her what happened and show her the pictures of her mother, father and her siblings.