Baby saved from rubble reunites with mother 54 days after quake

ANKARA

A baby who was saved from the rubble in the southern province of Hatay 128 hours after the earthquake has been reunited with his mother 54 days later.

Yasemin Begdaş, the mother of the baby whom nurses named “Gizem,” was rescued alive, while the baby’s father and two brothers lost their lives in the deadly Feb. 6 quakes.

Gizem was taken under observation at Adana City Hospital after being taken out of the rubble. The baby was found to have no health problems and was placed in an institution in the capital Ankara, affiliated with the Family and Social Services Ministry.

As part of the efforts initiated by the ministry to find unaccompanied minors, the family was contacted, and the DNA samples taken from the family and the baby matched.

Accordingly, Gizem was taken to the southern province of Adana by a private plane from Ankara. Minister Derya Yanık handed the baby over to the mother, Yasemin Begdaş, whose treatment continues at Adana City Hospital.

Yanık said the mother and her baby were reunited after 54 days and that this reunion is simply a miracle

“We were all very impressed that she survived and had no health problems,” Yanık said.

Yanık noted that the treatment of the mother continues and that there is no problem with her general health condition.

“After she recovers, we will leave Gizem in the care of her mother,” she stated, adding that the ministry’s full support will always be with the baby from now onward.

Explaining that reuniting a mother and her child is one of the most precious things in the world and it was really meaningful for the ministry to share that happiness, Yanık wished that the mother and daughter will never be separated again.

“May there always be goodness, prosperity, well-being and happiness for all children in our country and in the world,” she added.