Newborn Rescued From Earthquake Rubble in Syria

On February 8, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Syria and Turkey, burying thousands of people under the wreckage. While families mourn and rescue crews continue to search for loved ones, one story is providing some much-needed hope.

According to the [Associated Press](https://apnews.com/article/newborn-rescued-earthquake-syria-899ba2d62631d3f5c77761b935f9f7e9)) (AP), residents digging through a collapsed building in the northwest Syrian town of Jinderis heard an infant crying during their search.

Nearly 10 hours after the earthquake, the crew unearthed the baby with her umbilical cord still connected to her mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya. While the newborn’s mother appeared to have died alongside the rest of the baby’s immediate family, a female neighbor cut the cord and rushed the baby to the hospital for treatment.

The baby’s doctor, Hani Maarouf, MD, told the AP that the baby was bruised and her temperature had fallen to 95 degrees Fahrenheit when she arrived, but she was otherwise in stable condition.

Maarouf estimated the baby was born several hours before being found, given the amount her temperature had dropped. If the girl had been born just before the quake, she wouldn’t have survived so many hours in the cold, he said. “Had the girl been left for an hour more, she would have died,” he said.

Jinderis saw another dramatic rescue Monday when a toddler was pulled alive from the wreckage of a collapsed building. Video from the scene shows a rescuer unearthing the little girl, named Nour, from the wreckage. The girl, still half buried, looks up dazedly as they tell her, “Dad is here, don’t be scared. … Talk to your dad, talk.”

If you want to do something to help families in Turkey and Syria during this tragedy, you can learn how to contribute to organizations aiding in the rescue and recovery efforts here.