A week ago, earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, killing thousands. But amidst the despair, there were stories of “miracles”. This is one of them.
When Necla Camuz, 33, gave birth to her second child on Jan. 27, she named him Yagiz, which means brave. Ten days later, at 4:17 am local time, Necla was awake feeding her son in Hatay province in southern Turkey. Moments later, they were buried under rubble.
Necla and her family lived on the second floor of a modern five-story building in the city of Samandag. It was a “cool building” where she felt safe, she says. But that morning, the area was devastated by an earthquake that left destroyed buildings at every corner.
“When the earthquake started, I wanted to go to my husband, who was in the other room, and he wanted to do the same thing,” she says. “But when he tried to come to me with our other son, the wardrobe fell on top of them and it was impossible for them to move.”
“As the earthquake grew stronger, the wall collapsed, the room shook and the building shifted. When everything stopped, I didn’t realize I had fallen a whole floor. I screamed but got no response.”
The Turkish woman found herself lying with the baby on her chest, still in her arms. A fallen wardrobe saved their lives, preventing a large slab of concrete from crushing them. The two would stay like that for four days.
First day
Lying in her pajamas under the rubble, Necla could see nothing but darkness. She had to rely on her other senses to understand what was going on. To her relief, she realized that Yagiz was still breathing. Due to the dust, she struggled to breathe at first.
She managed to keep warm amidst the rubble. She felt like there were children’s toys under her, but she couldn’t move. Aside from the wardrobe, the soft skin of her newborn son and the clothes they wore, she couldn’t feel anything but concrete and rubble.
I could hear voices in the distance. She tried screaming for help and banging on the wardrobe. “Is anyone there? Can you hear me?” When that didn’t work, she picked up the bits of rubble that had fallen beside her. She slammed the pieces against the wardrobe, hoping the noise would attract attention. Necla was afraid to hit the surface above her and cause a cave-in.
Still, there was no response. Necla realized there was a possibility that no one would come.
Life under the rubble
In the darkness under the rubble, Necla lost all sense of time. “You have a lot of plans when you have a new baby and then all of a sudden you’re under rubble,” she says. Still, she knew she had to take care of Yagiz and managed to breastfeed him even in the confined space.
But there was no water or food. In desperation, she unsuccessfully tried to drink her own breast milk. Necla could feel jackhammers being cranked above her and hear footsteps and voices, but the muffled sounds seemed far away. She decided to save her energy and stay quiet unless the noises started to get really close.
She couldn’t stop thinking about her family—the baby at her breast and her husband and son lost somewhere in the rubble. And she was also concerned about the plight of other loved ones in the earthquake.
Necla didn’t think she could get out of the rubble. But Yagiz’s presence gave her reason to remain hopeful. He slept most of the time, and when he woke crying, she would silently feed him until he calmed down.
The rescue
After more than 90 hours under the rubble, Necla heard the sound of dogs barking. And the barking was followed by the sound of voices. “Are you all right? Knock once if so,” a voice shouted into the rubble. “What apartment do you live in?”
She had finally been found. Rescue teams carefully cleared away the rubble to locate her. The darkness was broken by a flashlight shining into her eyes.
When the Istanbul Fire Brigade rescue team asked how old Yagiz was, Necla wasn’t sure. She only knew he was 10 days old when the earthquake hit.
After handing Yagiz over to rescuers, she was carried away on a stretcher in front of a large crowd. She couldn’t recognize any faces. Upon being transferred to an ambulance, she sought confirmation that her other child had also been saved.
After the rubble
Upon arriving at the hospital, Necla was met by relatives, who told her that her husband, Irfan, and their son, Yigit Kerim, 3, had been rescued from the rubble. But they had been transferred hours later to a hospital in Adana province with serious injuries to their legs and feet.
Necla and Yagiz suffered no serious injuries. They were kept in the hospital for 24 hours for observation and then discharged. Necla no longer had a home, but a relative sheltered her in a makeshift blue tent made of wood and canvas. There are 13 people living there — all have lost their homes.
In the tent, the family supports each other, making coffee, playing chess and telling stories. Necla says that she saved her own life thanks to Yagiz. “If my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle it, I wouldn’t have been either.”
Her only dream for her son is that he never goes through something like this again. “I’m really happy that he’s a newborn baby and he doesn’t remember anything,” she says. When the phone rings, Nec smiles. From a hospital bed, Irfan and Yigit smile and wave. “Hi, warrior, how are you, my son?”, Irfan asks the baby.
This text was originally published here.
With a wealth of experience honed over 4+ years in journalism, I bring a seasoned voice to the world of news. Currently, I work as a freelance writer and editor, always seeking new opportunities to tell compelling stories in the field of world news.
