‘Heartbreaking’: Newborn connected to mother’s umbilical cord rescued from rubble in Syria

The heartbreaking images and dramatic rescue films making the rounds on social media show the extent of the destruction brought on by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria. One such image, according to an Associated Press article, depicts a newborn infant who was saved from the ruins in Syria while still having her umbilical cord attached to her deceased mother.

On Twitter, Now This News posted a picture of an infant receiving medical attention. The incident surprised online users, who expressed their amazement and feelings in the comments section. “OMG that’s heartbreaking,” a user said. One more person commented, “Such horror and grief!” Miracle baby, said a third user.

According to an AP story, the baby was sobbing amid the debris and is the only survivor of her family from the Jinderis building collapse. “After rescuers fished her out, a female neighbour severed the cord, and she and others went with the baby to a children’s hospital in the adjacent town of Afrin, where she has been maintained on an incubator,” said Dr. Hani Maarouf, who is seeing to the infant.

According to the doctor, Afraa Abu Hadiya, the mother of the infant, must have been awake during delivery because she passed quite shortly after. He also determined from taking the infant’s temperature that the infant was likely delivered some hours before being discovered.

“If the girl had been born just before the quake, she wouldn’t have survived so many hours in the cold. Had the girl been left for an hour more, she would have died,” he said. The infant, who had a bruising on her back, weighed 3.175 kg, which is the typical weight for a newborn.