- Author, Merlyn Thomas & Nawal al-Maghafi
- Role, BBC News
Thousands of people have offered to adopt the baby girl born under the rubble of a collapsed building in northwestern Syria, following Monday’s earthquake.
When she was rescued, little Aya – which means miracle in Arabic – was still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord.
Her mother, father and four siblings died following the earthquake hit the town of Jindayris.
Aya is now in the hospital.
“She arrived on Monday in such a state, she had bumps, bruises, she was cold and barely breathing,” said Hani Marouf, the pediatrician who takes care of her.
She is now in stable condition.
Videos of Aya’s rescue have gone viral on social media. It shows a man running from the debris of a collapsed building, holding a dust-covered baby in his arms.
Distant relative Khalil al-Suwadi, who was present when she was brought to safety, brought the newborn baby to Doctor Marouf in the Syrian city of Afrin.
Photo credit, Getty Images
Thousands of people on social media have now asked for details to adopt him.
“I would love to adopt him and give him a decent life,” one person said.
A Kuwaiti TV presenter said: “I am ready to take care of this child and adopt him…if the legal procedures allow me to do so.”
The director of the hospital, Khalid Attiah, says he has received dozens of calls from people around the world wishing to adopt little Aya.
Dr Attiah, who has a daughter just four months older than her, said: “I will not allow anyone to adopt her now. Until her distant family returns, I am treating her as the one of mine.”
For now, his wife breastfeeds him at the same time as their own daughter.
In Jindayris, Aya’s hometown, people searched for relatives in the collapsed buildings.
A journalist there, Mohammed al-Adnan, told the BBC: “The situation is catastrophic. There are so many people under the rubble. There are still people we haven’t brought out yet.”
He estimated that 90% of the town had been destroyed and that most of the aid so far had come from the local population.
Photo credit, Getty Images
Rescuers from the White Helmets organization, who have been used to pulling people out of the rubble for more than a decade during Syria’s civil war, came to Jindayris’ aid.
“The rescuers can end up being victims also because of the instability of the building,” said Mohammed al-Kamel.
“We have just pulled three bodies out of this rubble and we believe there is a family inside who are still alive – we will continue to work,” he said.
In Syria, more than 3,000 deaths have been reported as a result of the earthquake.
This figure does not include those who died in opposition-held areas of the country.
