6 months after newborn rescued in Syrian earthquake rubble, baby is thriving

Underneath the wreckage left behind by an earthquake that devastated Turkish and Syrian communities six months ago, a baby girl was born in Jinderis.

After spending more than 10 hours below the surface of the five-story apartment building where her parents lived, Afraa was found still connected to her mother’s umbilical cord, the Associated Press reported in February.

Her parents and four siblings did not survive.

When Afraa first arrived, she was initially given the name Aya — Arabic for “a sign from God.”

Afraa was eventually adopted by her paternal aunt and her husband, who would be raising her along with their five daughters and two sons, after spending several days in the hospital.

A DNA test was conducted to confirm Afraa and her aunt were related, her adopted father, Khalil al-Sawadi told the AP. After the family took her home, they  decided to name the baby girl, Afraa, after her late mother.

Despite several offers from people around the world wanting to help or adopt Afraa, her family said the best place for the infant is with family.

“I will raise her in a way that she will not feel in need for anything,” said al-Sawadi, who buys and sells cars. Surrounded by his children, al-Sawadi asked them if he should give away Afraa to the well-wishers offering to adopt her and they said in one voice, “No.”

Afraa’s story began beneath the rubble

More than 50,000 people were killed by the earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria in the early morning hours of February 6, AP reported. The 7.8 magnitude earthquake was followed by multiple aftershocks.

Of those killed, 44,000 were from Turkey and about 6,000 were from Syria, mainly in the rebel-held northwest. The northwestern part of Syria is home to some 4.5 million people, many of whom have been displaced by the country’s 12-year conflict that has killed 500,000 people, AP reported.

Dozens of housing units were destroyed in Jinderis, a place Afraa’s family called home since 2018. When the earthquake happened, Al-Sawadi remembered how he rushed out of his home and discovered that the building where Afraa’s family lived no longer existed.

He and other locals dug through the debris in heavy rain for hours until he grew tired and sat to rest nearby.

He was shortly called to identity a woman they had found underneath the rubble. Al-Sawadi told everyone nearby it was his cousin, Afraa.

The group also heard a baby’s cry and frantically removed the sand that covered the baby. He took a razor from his pocked and cut the umbilical cord and handed the baby to another cousin and they rushed her to a nearby hospital where he was told that the girl was in good health.

They drove to a couple hospitals in the area, hoping that the baby could receive medical attention. She was later released from a children’s hospital after receiving treatment.

Al-Sawadi initially thought that the newborn was a boy and told the doctor to name “him” after her late father Abdullah Turki Mleihan. They later found out it was a girl.

For days, he was worried that someone might kidnap her and he visited her frequently at the hospital.

“She is one of my children now. I will not differentiate between her and my children. She will be dearer than my children because she will keep the memory alive of her father, mother and siblings,” al-Sawadi, who is also a cousin of the girl’s parents, told AP.

More: 22 US service members injured in northeastern Syrian helicopter accident, military says

Despite the rocky start, she is a happy baby

Afraa is in good health, loves her adopted family and likes to smile even to strangers, AP reported Sunday.

The 6 month old was busy enjoying herself over the weekend, swinging on a red swing hanging from the ceiling while al-Sawadi pushed her back and forth.

“This girl is my daughter. She is exactly the same as my children,” said al-Sawadi, sitting cross-legged with Afraa on his lap.

Days after Afraa was born, her adopted mother gave birth to a daughter, Attaa. Since then she has been breast-feeding both babies, al-Sawadi said.

“Afraa drinks milk and sleeps most of the day,” al-Sawadi said.

Despite several offers to live abroad, al-Sawadi refuses to leave because he wants to stay in Syria, where Afraa's parents lived and were killed.

The family spends the day at an apartment, but spends the night at a tent settlement because his children are still traumatized by the earthquake.

Al-Sawadi hopes to tell Afraa about her rescue and what happened to her family when she grows up. He said that if he doesn’t tell her, his wife or children will.

“We are very happy with her, because she reminds us of her parents and siblings,” al-Sawadi said. “She looks very much like her father and her sister Nawara.”

- Contributing: Ghaith Alsayed and Bassem Mroue for the Associated Press; Amaris Encinas for Gannett

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Afraa, newborn in Syrian earthquake, thriving with family support