October 25, 2011

2-week-old baby rescued from collapsed building 2 days after the earthquake.

In Turkey. The baby, Azra Karaduman, was held in the arms of her mother, Semiha, who also survived. The mother was "pinned down next to a sofa," and freed 2 hours later. Imagine the relief you would feel, even while still trapped, to know that the baby was finally getting help beyond the heroic 2-day help you were able to give, by simply holding her.

(Video of the baby at the link.)

30 comments:

ndspinelli said...

The survival instinct and a mother's love..a tough combo to beat.

Curious George said...

On the flipside, the Turks have rejected Israeli aid to help with earthquake rescue. Reason: Islam. Can't have Israelis and dogs (not redundant if you're the Turkish government)digging out Turks.

The Israelis are very good at this sort of thing. Yousee they have years of practice digging people out of buildings bombed by Muslims.

coketown said...

A very beautiful story to remind us that even in places of widespread strife and destruction, there are pockets of hope to be found.

traditionalguy said...

Without mothers where would any of us be?

Curious George said...

"traditionalguy said...
Without mothers where would any of us be?"

Well, without father's too the answer would most likely be "in poverty".

ndspinelli said...

Curious, You have to lighten up dude.

Hagar said...

That warm and fuzzy center again.

Curious George said...

"ndspinelli said...
Curious, You have to lighten up dude."

Hey, it's a nice story, and mothers are awesome. My mom passed 13 years ago and I still miss her.

Happy?

But from the story:

"Another point of media focus in the town has been nine-year-old Oguz Isler, who was pulled on Sunday from another toppled apartment building, where his aunt had lived. Since then he has been outside the wrecked building awaiting news of his parents and other relatives who remain buried inside.

"They should send more people," he said, being comforted by an aunt.

People are surely dying, or suffering, unnecessarily because of Turkey's decisions.

Roger J. said...

sounds like the baby, and the mother were lucky.

The prognosis for many victims who are pinned by debris is not good--its something called crush syndrome, and merely digging them out may, in fact, hasten their deaths. In order to survive crush syndrome, the rescuers must administer life saving measures while the victim is still crushed. Only then they can be safely rescued

The prognosis for a crush syndrome victim, absent highly compentent care, is not good.

Whatever--best wishes for the survival of both mother and child.

m stone said...

Did the US offer assistance?

edutcher said...

Turkey is a very quake-prone country. I don't doubt the Turks have gotten very good at this sort of thing.

Curious George said...

"edutcher said...
Turkey is a very quake-prone country. I don't doubt the Turks have gotten very good at this sort of thing."

Not questioning that. But you need as many people as possible when time is of the essence.

Freeman Hunt said...

Imagine the relief you would feel, even while still trapped, to know that the baby was finally getting help beyond the heroic 2-day help you were able to give, by simply holding her.

No kidding.

MayBee said...

Wow, I really read that wrong at first. I thought the mother was rescued two hours after the quake and the baby just now rescued. And I couldn't figure out what kind of mother leaves the baby in the rubble as she's rescued.

So happy that's not what happened.

m stone said...

To answer my own question, MSNBC reported late yesterday:

Turkey has received offers of assistance from countries as far as China and Pakistan but so far has accepted aid only from Iran and Azerbaijan.

As a footnote, the US (Clinton) provided $1 bn in loan aid to Turkey after a comparable quake in 1999.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I'm picking out a baby crib for a girl as a present and I'm not sure if the color matters.

I like the "espresso" color but I'm afraid that might be too male oriented.

I dont want to ask the mother.

Known Unknown said...

Lem-

Espresso is a wood finish, and it has no gender.

In other news, Sarkozy has wings!

A. Shmendrik said...

At some point wouldn't you think they would run out of non earthquake-proof buildings in such places? Or are they just resistant to modern engineering?

Known Unknown said...

Things I still hold out hope for ...

• A Cleveland Indians World Series Championship

• Owning a Range Rover

• The big switch to Althou.se

Unknown said...

Hang on. Holding your baby for two days because you are forced to is heroic, but jumping into cold water to save it isn't?

ndspinelli said...

Well Curious, I'm happy most the time. It's you that can use a little sunshine.

deborah said...

Lem, it depends on the mom. You could give it to her and say you'd be fine with her exchanging it, if she's the picky type.

deborah said...

That is, espresso is fine for a girl, but the mom may have a different nursery vision.

wv for Lem: ining

edutcher said...

Curious George said...

edutcher said...
Turkey is a very quake-prone country. I don't doubt the Turks have gotten very good at this sort of thing.


Not questioning that. But you need as many people as possible when time is of the essence.


You get no argument from me. I wasn't disagreeing, just making the point the Turks have seen plenty of this.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Its a good thing I got these answers because if I were buying it for me I would get that Espresso finish.

Thanks everybody.

Now I just have to remember to use the professors Amazon link.

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

Wait.. I mean If I were getting it for a son/daughter of mine.. not me.. I dont even have that fetish.

wv wayste

Curious George said...

"ndspinelli said...
Well Curious, I'm happy most the time. It's you that can use a little sunshine."

I'm guessing you also like the sound of your own voice.

ndspinelli said...

Curious, I'm actually a quiet man..preferring to watch and listen, which I also did for a living. I am a half glass full guy. And you Curious George, are wrapped pretty tight. May I prescribe bourbon, cannabis, or both. Life's too fucking short..enjoy it.

Steve Koch said...

The mother felt something a few orders of magnitude more intense than relief (something with a large component of visceral ferocity and monomaniacal determination) and she will relive it and feel that same emotion many times for many years.

Jamie said...

But really, with a 2-wk-old, she was likely to be able to provide more than just HOLDING the baby. If the mom was decently nourished and hydrated, and the baby wasn't injured by debris, it seems likely to me that the baby could come through just fine. The mom might need serious rehydrating, though. (Even if she wasn't nursing the baby before that, I bet she'd try it - and it would work, under those circumstances.)