Born under the rubble amid the terrible earthquakes that killed her parents and siblings, Syria’s “miracle baby” has now been taken in by her relatives.
Afraa al-Suwadi began her life trapped under layers of concrete after the devastating earthquakes earlier this month, which left her the sole survivor of her immediate family.
More than 10 hours after the quake, rescuers were digging through the rubble of a decimated five-story apartment building where they found a baby still connected by her umbilical cord to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, who was dead along with her husband and her late husband of four more children.
Since footage of her rescue in the northern Syrian town of Jindayris went viral on social media, Suwadi’s story has captivated a grieving nation and made international headlines as Syria’s “miracle baby”.
She is one of scores of orphans left behind by the tremors that killed more than 47,000 people in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey.
Afraa al-Suwadi began life trapped under layers of concrete after the devastating earthquakes in Syria and Turkey earlier this month
Rescuers found Afraa al-Suwadi, who was still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord
“She is my soul, my life and my whole world,” her uncle Khalil al-Suwadi said from his tent in town, rocking the newborn.
The baby, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a red hat with a small bow, was given her mother’s name, Afraa – one of more than 47,000 people killed in the 7.8 magnitude quake in war-torn Syria and neighboring Turkey .
Khalil al-Suwadi took the baby in about a week and a half after he was admitted to a hospital in rebel-held Jindayris, near the Turkish border.
Medical staff performed a DNA test to ensure they were actually relatives.
“The day they told us we could have them I was over the moon, it was beyond words,” said the uncle who helped rescue her.
Khalil al-Suwadi is married to a sister of the baby’s late father, who was also his cousin.
“This child is a living memory of her father, mother and siblings” who perished, he said.
One day, when Baby Afraa is older, he said he would tell her the family story.
The baby, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a red cap with a small bow, was given her mother’s name, Afraa
“She is my soul, my life and my whole world,” her uncle Khalil al-Suwadi said from his tent in town, rocking the newborn
Khalil al-Suwadi took the baby in about a week and a half after she was admitted to the hospital
The baby was born under rubble after the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey
She is one of scores of orphans left behind by the tremors that killed more than 47,000 people in northern Syria and southeastern Turkey
Rescuers and local residents search the rubble of collapsed buildings in the town of Harem near the Turkish border, Idlib province, Syria, February 8, 2023
As he placed her on one of the mattresses scattered across the flimsy tent the family moved into after the earthquake, his daughters gathered around the baby, hugging and kissing him.
The uncle said his wife gave birth a few days ago, but he spent much of his time looking after Afraa.
“She’s like one of my daughters now.”
The UN children’s organization UNICEF said it was monitoring children whose parents were missing or killed, providing food, clothing and medicine and coordinating with hospitals to trace extended family members who could potentially care for them.
In Turkey, the Ministry of Family and Social Services appealed to prospective foster families to apply. Children whose families or relatives cannot be found are currently being cared for in state institutions, it said. Staff assessed their needs and placed them with registered foster families, the ministry said.