A mother recalled surviving four harrowing days buried under the rubble of buildings leveled by the Turkey earthquake — with her 10-day-old baby clinging to her chest.
Necla Camuz, 33, and her newborn, Yagiz — meaning “brave one” — miraculously survived the 7.8-magntitude temblor on Feb. 6 that’s killed more than 34,000 in Turkey and Syria.
Camuz was breastfeeding Yagiz at 4:17 a.m. inside the family’s second-floor apartment in Hatay province when their home began to shake, she told BBC News.
She said she and her husband — who was holding their 3-year-old son — began walking toward one another from opposite rooms after feeling the tremble, but they were crushed by their wardrobe.
“As the earthquake got bigger, the wall fell, the room was shaking, and the building was changing position,” the terrified mom told the outlet. “When it stopped, I didn’t realize that I had fallen one floor down. I shouted their names but there was no answer.”
When the shaking stopped, Camuz found herself laying down in the pitch black struggling to breathe through the dust with her infant cradled against her chest, she recalled.
She said a wardrobe that had fallen next to her stopped a large slab of concrete from crushing her and her baby to death.
Camuz had to rely on her other senses to figure out her situation in the dark, the BBC reported. She could tell that her baby Yagiz was breathing and she felt his soft skin and clothes on her chest but was unable to shift positions.
She said she heard voices in the distance and began screaming for help.
“Is there anyone there? Can anyone hear me?” she said she shouted as she banged on the wardrobe next to her.
She grabbed small bits of the crushed building and used it to bang the wardrobe when she didn’t hear anything back.
No one answered — and she began to realize no one may ever answer, she said.
“I was terrified,” Camuz told the publication.
In the complete dark and unable to move much, she had no idea what time it was or how many hours passed. Previous 1 of 6 Next
Advertisement Camuz said she had no concept of time while buried in the debris. AFP via Getty Images The mom and baby suffered no serious injuries. News Licensing / MEGA Advertisement Camuz’s husband and other son also survived after being buried in the rubble. Umit Turhan Coskun/NurPhoto/Shut Camuz was able to breastfeed her newborn to keep him alive. AP Advertisement
Her maternal instincts still intact, she focused on keeping her newborn alive — an image much different than how she imagined her son’s first weeks in the world.
“You plan lots of things when you have a new baby, and then all of a sudden you’re under rubble,” she said.
She was able to move just enough to breastfeed Yagiz but had no access to food or water for herself. In desperation, she tried to drink her own breastmilk but was unsuccessful.
Camuz said he slept most of the time that they were buried and would occasionally cry — at which point she would feed him until he stopped.
She said she sometimes heard footsteps and voices and could feel what she believed was a drill at points, but the noises felt too far away.
As the hours and days ticked past, she worried about her husband and other son — having watched the dresser come toppling down on them.
Then — after more than 90 hours under the debris — Camuz heard dogs barking and wondered if it was a dream.
But then she heard people’s voices, too.
“Are you OK?” one of the voices asked, according to the BBC. “Knock once for yes.”
Rescue teams from the Istanbul Municipality Fire Department carefully dug through the rubble until they reached Camuz and Yagiz.
She handed her newborn to the rescuers and was carried away herself on a stretcher. The pair were rushed to a local hospital via ambulance.
Camuz was relieved to see familiar faces at the hospital — family members who told her husband and older son also survived the wreckage.
They each suffered serious injuries to their legs and feet, however, and were at a hospital hours away, according to the BBC.
Miraculously, Camuz and her little “brave one” had no serious injuries and were released from the hospital after 24 hours of observation.
The mom and son are now living in a makeshift tent with 11 other family members — all of whom lost their homes in the earthquake.
Despite going through the terrifying disaster, Camuz said she is grateful to have had her son with her in the quake’s aftermath.
“I think if my baby hadn’t been strong enough to handle this, I wouldn’t have been either,” she told the outlet.
