Six months ago, an unlikely survivor brought hope in the wake of the massive earthquake that devastated Turkey and Syria. Under the ruins of a home in the Syrian town of Jinderis, a newborn child was found alive after being buried for 10 hours. Sadly, the girl’s parents and siblings did not survive. However, she was adopted by her aunt and uncle, with whom she now lives. Named after her mother, baby Afraa is reportedly happy, healthy, and full of smiles!
“This girl is my daughter. She is exactly the same as my children,” said Afraa’s uncle, Khalil al-Sawadi, according to The Associated Press. “Afraa drinks milk and sleeps most of the day.”
It was Khalil who first discovered his niece under the remnants of his brother-in-law’s home. While digging through the wreckage from the earthquake, which took at least 50,000 lives in Turkey and Syria, he heard the sound of a baby screaming.
“I started moving the rubble and then I saw her and started crying,” he said at the time, The Telegraph tells us. “While I picked her up, she was still connected to the umbilical cord so I took out a razor and cut it myself.”
Afraa is being raised with her new siblings, including another baby girl only a few days younger than herself. Khalil and his wife welcomed their daughter, Attaa, into the world just after Afraa was found. This made it possible for the adoptive sisters to be breastfed at the same time, says The Associated Press.
“We are very happy with her, because she reminds us of her parents and siblings,” said Khalil, who has opted to remain in Syria with his family instead of moving them abroad. “She looks very much like her father and her sister Nawara.”
Eventually, Afraa’s adoptive family will tell her about her miraculous birth and rescue, as well as the truth about her parents and siblings. For now, though, this little girl is content to be surrounded by people who care about her.
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