A baby born under the rubble and rescued after devastating earthquakes in Syria has been christened with an Arabic name that means “sign from God” and has received several offers of adoption.
The baby girl’s mother had delivered the new born under the rubble of a collapsed building, but had died shortly after.
The newborn was still connected to her mother’s umbilical cord when she was discovered by rescuers in the small town of Jinderis, next to the Turkish border, Ramadan Sleiman.
The baby is one of the only surviving members of her family.
Doctors said they named the girl “Aya” or Arabic for “sign from God”.
Videos shared online showed rescuers lifting the dust-covered newborn to safety as they scaled mounting debris of buildings crumbled by the devastating earthquake.
Dr Hani Maarouf, at Cihan hospital in Afrin city, said Aya’s mother, Afraa Abu Hadiya, probably gave birth to the girl and then died a few hours before they were discovered.
“We named her Aya, so we could stop calling her a new-born baby,” he was quoted as saying to The Guardian.
He said her condition was improving by the day and that there was no damage to her spine, as initially feared.
The baby’s great uncle, Salah al-Badran, will take her in once she is released from the hospital.
He said to the Associated Press that his own kin were killed after the earthquake.
“After the earthquake, there’s no one able to live in his house or building. Only 10 per cent of the buildings here are safe to live in and the rest are unliveable,” he said, communicating via voice messages.
Meanwhile, as videos of the baby’s rescue went viral, several users offered to adopt the child, reported The Strait Times.
“I wish someone knew how to reach the child. I am ready to adopt her and take care of her until the last minute of my life,” tweeted Paulina Queralt, a Lebanese singer living in France.
Another user wrote: “I would like to adopt her and give her a decent life.”
Baby Aya lost her parents and four siblings in the earthquake.
The death toll from the two earthquakes earlier this week crossed 21,000 with the UN issuing an appeal for more aid for both Turkey and Syria.
