A deadly earthquake that left thousands dead in Turkey and Syria last week has now passed. However, there have also been accounts of “miracles” in the midst of the despair. One of them is this one.

On January 27, Necla Camuz gave birth to her second son and gave him the name Yagiz, which means “brave one.”

Ten days later, at 04:17 local time, Necla was awake at their home in Hatay province, southern Turkey, feeding her son. They were soon buried beneath piles of debris.

In the town of Samandag, Necla and her family resided on the second floor of a contemporary five-story building. She claims that it was a “nice building” and that she had felt safe there.

That morning, she had no idea that the earthquake would demolish everything in its path, including buildings.

According to her, “I wanted to go to my husband who was in the other room, and he wanted to do the same thing” when the earthquake started.

“However, the wardrobe fell onto them as he tried to come to me with our other son, and they were unable to move.”

“The room shook, the wall fell, and the building moved as the earthquake got stronger. I didn’t realize I had fallen one floor when it stopped. I yelled their names, but no one responded.”

The 33-year-old woman was lying down with her baby still in her arms and on her chest. They had been saved from being crushed by a large slab of concrete by a fallen wardrobe next to her.

For nearly four days, the pair would remain in this position.

Day 1: Necla was in her pajamas underneath the debris, and all she could see was “pitch black,” so she had to use her other senses to figure out what was going on.

She was relieved to discover that Yagiz was still breathing right away.

She initially had trouble breathing due to the dust, but it soon went away. The rubble kept her warm.

She had the impression that there were toys for kids beneath her, but she was unable to move to check or get more comfortable.

She could only feel concrete and debris, the wardrobe, her newborn son’s supple skin, and the clothes they were wearing.

She heard voices in the distance. She made an effort to yell for assistance and struck the wardrobe.

“Is anyone present? Can I be heard?” She phoned.

When that didn’t work, she tried banging on the wardrobe with the small pieces of debris that had fallen next to her in the hope that it would get louder. She feared falling onto the surface above her in the event that it collapsed.

However, no one responded.

Necla realized that it was possible that no one would show up.

She says, “I was terrified.”

Life underground Necla lost all sense of time in the gloom beneath the rubble.

Life wasn’t supposed to be like this.

She asserts, “When you have a baby, you plan a lot of things, and then… all of a sudden you’re under rubble.”

She was still able to breastfeed Yagiz in the constrained space because she was aware that she had to take care of him.

She couldn’t get food or water for herself from anywhere. She tried unsuccessfully to consume her own breast milk out of desperation.

Although the muffled sounds seemed far away, Necla could feel the rumble of drills overhead and hear footsteps and voices.

Unless the sounds from outside got closer, she decided to conserve her energy and remain silent.
She constantly considered her family, including the infant on her chest as well as the husband and son who had perished in the rubble.

She was also concerned about how the earthquake had affected other loved ones.

Necla was skeptical that she would emerge from the rubble, but Yagiz’s presence gave her hope.

She silently fed him when he woke up when he was crying because he slept most of the time.

The rescue After spending more than ninety hours underground, Necla heard barking dogs. She pondered whether she was in a dream.

The sound of voices came after the barks.

Are you fine? One person yelled into the rubble, “Knock once for yes.” Where do you currently reside?”

She was located.

While she was holding Yagiz, rescuers carefully dug into the ground to locate her.

A torch light shining into her eyes broke the darkness.

Necla was uncertain as to Yagiz’s age when the rescue team from the Istanbul Municipality Fire Department inquired. When the earthquake struck, she was only aware that he was 10 days old.
Necla was then taken away on a stretcher in front of what appeared to be a large crowd after giving Yagiz to the rescuers. She was unable to identify any faces.

She sought confirmation that her other son had also been saved as she was transported to an ambulance.

When Necla got to the hospital, her family members greeted her and informed her that her three-year-old son, Yigit Kerim, and her six-year-old husband, Irfan, had been rescued from the rubble.

However, they had sustained serious injuries to their legs and feet and had been transported for several hours to a hospital in the province of Adana.
Amazingly, neither Necla nor Yagiz had sustained any significant physical harm. Before being released from the hospital, they were kept there for 24 hours for observation.

A family member brought Necla back to a tarpaulin-and-wooden makeshift blue tent. Necla had no place to go. There are a total of thirteen of them, all of whom have lost their homes.

The family supports one another in the tent by playing chess, telling stories, making coffee on a small stove, and playing chess.

“Trying” to come to terms with what happened to Necla is what she’s doing. She claims that Yagiz saved her life.

She provides the following explanation: “I think if my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this, I wouldn’t have been either.”

Her only wish for her son is that nothing like this ever happens to him again.

She declares, “I’m very happy he’s a newborn baby and will not remember anything.”

Necla smiles when a call comes in. Irfan and Yigit Kerim wave and smile from their hospital bed.

“How are you, my son, warrior?” Through the screen, Irfan asks his child a question.