Meet baby girl Aya who was born under the rubble of the Turkey-Syria earthquake and was rescued with her umbilical cord still attached to her dead mother in the Syrian town of Jenderis.

Aya's story

In Jenderes, in the countryside of Afrin, northeast Syria, a baby girl takes her first breath surrounded by the destruction after her mother went into labor during the earthquake, gave birth to her, and bid her farewell. 

The girl was named Aya, meaning "a sign from God" in Arabic. Her father and brothers were also killed in the earthquake.

Thousands of people have offered to adopt the baby girl who was born under the rubble of a collapsed building in north-west Syria, following Monday's earthquake

When she was rescued, baby Aya - meaning miracle in Arabic - was still connected to her mother by her umbilical cord pic.twitter.com/71FL8xCBXJ

— Worldfocus Blog (@WorldfocusBlog) February 10, 2023

Because all of her family members have died, her father's uncle promised he will take her home after she is released from the hospital. Salah Al-Badran was one of those severely affected by the earthquake, as his home was leveled in the earthquake, forcing him and his family to take shelter in a tent.

The footage of Aya's rescue quickly went viral on social media. The video shows a man rushing from the rubble of a four-story building, taking the dust-covered baby into his arms.

In the sub-zero weather, a second man hurries toward the first, holding a blanket for the newborn, as a third begs for a car to take her to the hospital.

The baby Aya, who was rescued from under the rubble of her destroyed house after the earthquake, and her umbilical cord is still tied to her deceased mother in Afrin, Syria.#syriaearthquake #TurkeyEarthquake #Turkey #Syria pic.twitter.com/8ceV3SBmg4

— AZOOZ_NB93 (@AZOOZ_NB93) February 8, 2023

The baby was sent to a hospital in the adjacent town of Afrin for treatment. She had scrapes and bruises, was cold, and was hardly breathing.

The bigger picture

Aya is only one of the scores of children who have lost their parents in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake. UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund, stated that it has been monitoring unfortunate children like Aya, whose parents are missing or deceased, and is working with hospitals to find extended family members who may be able to care for them.

The situation is of particular concern in Syria, a country that already bears the agony of hundreds of thousands of unknown numbers of orphans due to the destructive war on the country. 

Moreover, Damascus has been hit by more than a decade of US draconian sanctions, and there have been calls for them to be lifted to facilitate the arrival of aid. Earlier today, the US complied with international calls to lift Syria-related sanctions amid the aftermath of the earthquake, albeit temporarily.

As the catastrophe unfolds in front of the whole world's eyes in #Syria, one can't help but notice how the #West deliberately chose not to help the catastrophe-stricken country. pic.twitter.com/f5cOYM0JAB

— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) February 7, 2023

A massive earthquake with a magnitude of 7.8 Richter ripped through Syria on early Monday, leading to more than 3,700 deaths and thousands of injuries.