Adana, Turkey
CNN
—
First there is a scream…then a sharp yell…and “Dad, Dad” is heard over and over again.
Gada Ayyan, a 4-year-old girl, and her father Ahmet Ayayan are reunited after being buried in the rubble of what was once their home in southern Turkey.
They were trapped together when their home collapsed in an earthquake, and more than 45,000 are now known to have died. Faced with pain days away.
“When it first started shaking, I grabbed my daughter and the whole family started running away,” Ahmet said. “The building collapsed on all of us.”
His wife and son did not survive. While stuck, Ahmet could hear his son’s cries. Next to him was his daughter. She was lying on his leg, and both of them were trapped, unable to free themselves.
Debris was all the way up to his neck. On his fourth day under the rubble, he said he was losing hope. he was in pain. His leg was badly damaged. But his daughter wouldn’t let him give up her hope that he would be saved.
“My daughter has told me many times, Daddy, don’t cry. Relax. They’re here to help us,” Ahmet said.
She told him to look into the incoming light. And low, lo and behold, they suddenly heard a voice. they had been rescued.
Gada was pulled out first, but there were few wounds.After half an hour, they were able to dig out Ahmet. However, she was under the care of social services while he was sent to the hospital.
When he lost sight of his daughter, he knew he would see her again, even if it was his last.
He went to Facebook and Instagram, showed her pictures, and begged someone to help him find her. They were relatives.
“She kept me alive,” he said of her constant encouragement for days under the rubble. is my hero”
They have to deal with the loss of Gada’s mother and seven-year-old brother, but Ahmet and his daughter need to love and care for each other and that’s enough, he said. .
Meanwhile, 14-year-old Can Gürsoy from Konya City says to get whatever closure is needed to see his mother. She was buried with her family in a collapsed building. he and his sister were alive. His mother has not yet been found in Pancake’s house.
“All I ask of you is to help me find my mother Shukran Elden,” he told CNN.
The teenager has dark circles around his eyes and bruises on his legs, but is otherwise healthy. But his psychological trauma of being trapped in the tightest space for 24 hours can haunt him for a while.
“I remember a building that collapsed. “It was very difficult to breathe there. And something crushed my leg and it hurt me.”
He tried everything to get someone’s attention. He had the phone in his hands for a few minutes and was able to type a message into his family’s WhatsApp chat, after which he tried to call emergency services but none connected and no one I couldn’t hear him scream.
It was the curtain that saved him. Pulling it brought it to the rescuer’s attention. Shortly thereafter, he was pulled from the rubble.
Kang usually spends his time playing video games and basketball (he’s a huge Los Angeles Lakers fan). But for now, his heart longs to be reunited with his mother. With her body not found, he hopes beyond her wishes that she has been rescued and is in a hospital somewhere.
He believes that her love and the love of his family and friends kept him sane while he was buried, and hopes that the same love will be strong enough to bring her back to him.
Rescuers are still looking for survivors — three more were found on Saturday. But almost two weeks after the earthquake, the happy reunion is soon to be over.