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A Turkish mother of a 10-day-old boy has revealed that a cupboard saved their lives when they traversed the floor of her apartment and protected them from falling concrete slabs during the deadly earthquake.
One of the miraculous stories after the earthquake that claimed more than 33,000 lives in Turkey and Syria is that of 33-year-old Necla Camuz and her newborn son Yagiz, who survived buried under piles of rubble for almost four days.
Necla kept her baby alive through more than 90 hours of being buried in the ruins of her home by nursing him, and even tried to drink her own breast milk to survive.
She gave birth to Yagiz – translated as the brave one – on January 27, the BBC reports.
Ten days later, when the devastating earthquake struck at 04:17 local time, she was breastfeeding her son in the family home on the second floor of a five-story building in Turkey’s Hatay province.
Necla Camuz, 33, gave birth to her son Yagiz – translated as the brave one – on January 27. Ten days later, she found herself buried under a mountain of rubble, holding her baby to her chest.
When the earthquake started, she said her husband, who was in another room at the time, tried to reach her with their son, while she tried to do the same.
A cabinet fell on her husband and son, preventing him and his son from moving.
She told the BBC: “As the quake got bigger, the wall fell, the room was shaking and the building was changing position.” When she stopped, I didn’t realize she had fallen down a story. I called out their names but there was no response.
Surrounded by dust, she found her baby still in her arms and a cupboard fallen next to her, preventing a concrete slab from crushing the couple.
Despite being unable to see due to the dust, Necla immediately noticed that Yagiz was still breathing.
She said that at first it was hard for her to breathe with the dust around her, but she soon settled down and felt warm in the rubble, even though she was only wearing her pajamas.
There may be children’s toys next to her, but Necla couldn’t move and check.
The only thing she could be sure of was the wardrobe that saved her life, the skin of her young son against her chest, the clothes on their bodies, and the mountains of cement and rubble around them.
He could faintly hear voices in the first hours after the quake, but his calls for help went unanswered.
He knocked helplessly against the closet with a piece of debris next to him, but he didn’t hit the ceiling, as he was too afraid it would collapse.
The mother-of-two said she was terrified and realized that no one might come to rescue her and Yagiz.
She told the BBC: “You plan a lot of things when you have a new baby, and then…suddenly you’re under rubble.”
Her maternal instincts made her put her worries aside to care for her son, nursing him in the confined space.
Dramatic footage shows the rescue of the baby and its mother before they were loaded into ambulances and taken to hospital.
After more than 90 hours underground, Necla finally heard the sounds of rescuers nearby. She heard dogs barking, in what she at first thought was a dream.
Rescuers from the Istanbul Ministry of Fire Department wrapped Yagiz in a thermal blanket and carefully pulled her out of the rubble.
Mother and son miraculously did not sustain serious injuries and were released from the hospital after a 24-hour observation period.
She lost all sense of time and there was no food or water that she could access on her own. She even tried unsuccessfully to drink her own breast milk to stay hydrated.
She could feel the vibrations from the drills overhead, and even heard voices and muffled footsteps, but they were so far away that she didn’t want to waste energy trying to alert them to her location unless they got closer.
Her family was constantly on her mind: the worry of her husband and son buried in the rubble somewhere above, and the fate of her other relatives after the earthquake.
She would have had no hope of getting out of the wreckage alive if it hadn’t been for her son, who slept most of the time and only woke up crying when he wanted to be fed.
After more than 90 hours underground, Necla finally heard the sounds of rescuers nearby. She heard dogs barking, in what she at first thought was a dream.
A voice called out to her, asking her if she was okay and to knock once to say yes. She asked him which apartment she lived in.
Necla and Yagiz were found after rescuers carefully removed the debris that buried them.
For the first time in almost four days, he saw the light again when the light of a torch caught his eyes.
They asked her how old Yagiz was, but since she didn’t know how long they were buried under the rubble, she couldn’t be sure.
Rescuers from the Istanbul Municipality Fire Department wrapped Yagiz in a thermal blanket and carefully pulled her out of the rubble.
Necla was carried on a stretcher in front of a large crowd, as she was unable to walk after being buried under rubble for so long.
Dramatic footage shows the rescue of the baby and its mother before they were loaded into the ambulance and taken to hospital.
At the hospital, Necla was greeted by family members, who told her that her husband Irfan, to whom she has been married for six years, and her other son, Yigit Kerim, had also been rescued and were in a hospital for a few weeks. hours. away, as they suffered serious injuries to their legs and feet
At the hospital, Necla was greeted by family members, who told her that her husband Irfan, to whom she has been married for six years, and her other son, Yigit Kerim, had also been rescued and were in a hospital for a few weeks. hours. away, as they suffered serious injuries to their legs and feet.
Mother and son miraculously did not sustain serious injuries and were released from the hospital after a 24-hour observation period.
He is currently staying with a family in a makeshift blue tent, where the family supports each other after the tragedy.
Necla was finally reunited with her husband Irfan and their three-year-old son, Yigit Kerim.
She said she was trying to come to terms with what happened to her and her family, but she is sure she owes her life to her baby, without whom she would have lost hope.
“I think if my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this then I wouldn’t have been either,” she told the BBC. “I am very happy that he is a newborn baby and he will not remember anything.”