A Syrian infant miraculously found alive hours after birth under the rubble of a building destroyed by the deadly earthquake will leave hospital and live with loved ones near Jandairis, in northwestern Syria, announced the latter to AFP.
The little girl is the only survivor of her family, her father, her mother, her brothers and sisters having all died in the collapse of their four-storey building after the earthquake which struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, causing nearly 46,000 deaths.
“She is my soul”
Relatives had extricated from the ruins the baby born under the rubble and still connected by the umbilical cord to his deceased mother.
"
She is my soul, my life and the whole world for me
", assures AFP her uncle by marriage Khalil Sawadi, who cradles the little girl in a makeshift tent, wrapped in a blanket and wearing a red cap. in a black bow tie.
Her relatives named her Afraa, after her late mother.
Video of her rescue went viral on social media and Afraa made international headlines as a miracle baby from the quake.
After ten days spent in hospital in a locality near Jandairis, little Afraa was subjected to a DNA test to ensure her family ties with Khalil Sawadi, who is also her father's cousin.
Read alsoEarthquake in Turkey: the ordeal of Kahramanmaras today populated by dead and homeless
"
The day they told us we could keep it, my joy was unparalleled, it was indescribable,
" said Mr. Sawadi, who was among those who found it under the rubble.
“
This child is the living memory of her father, her mother, her brothers and sisters,
” he promises, adding that he will tell her the story of her birth one day, when she is older.
He lays little Afraa down on a mattress on the floor and his daughters gather around the baby to carry her in their arms and kiss her.
His wife gave birth a few days ago, he says, but he spent all his time with Afraa.
“
She is now like one of my daughters.
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