He was overjoyed to learn that his mother, wife, and the rest of his family had all managed to survive, and he was also able to finally meet his newborn daughter for the first time.
Mustafa Avci, 33 & Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26 were rescued after 261 hrs trapped under rubble of a health center in Antakya. Video captures moment Avci learns his family made it— he was reunited with his wife & 12-day-old daughter born day of the Earthquake. pic.twitter.com/1tfvjcp49R
— GoodNewsCorrespondent (@GoodNewsCorres1) February 17, 2023
More than 46,000 people have lost their lives as a direct result of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. People have been forced out of their homes and away from their families, and they have been exposed to harrowing experiences. In the midst of all of this mayhem, hearing stories of families being reunited is both extremely reassuring and extremely heartwarming. It instills optimism in people and brings a smile to everyone’s face. The story of Mustafa Avci, who was rescued after being buried under the rubble of a hospital for 261 hours after the earthquake, is one example of this type of story. A video of Avci checking in with his family was posted to Twitter by GoodNewsCorrespondent. In the video, Avci can be seen making the call.
Together with Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26, the 33-year-old was pulled from the water. According to the Daily Mail, they were unable to escape after the health centre they were in in Antakya collapsed on February 6. This occurred at the same time that two massive earthquakes devastated south-west Turkey and parts of Syria. Almost immediately, Avci placed a call to his family, and one can overhear him asking, “Kadir?” Avci asks, “How are you? My dear brother”.
The person on the other end of the phone in the video asks him nicely how he is doing, and he responds, “I’m fine. No problem whatsoever. I think I’m in the Education and Research Hospital. They will transfer me to wherever is available. I am completely fine.”
After that, he inquired as to whether or not he is the brother of AbdulKadir, to which the man responded with a grin. The person who is speaking to the brother on the phone starts crying and asks, “Brother, where are you for god’s sake?” Avci immediately asks, “How is mum and everyone else doing?” With reluctance because he does not want to be confronted with unfavourable information. On the other hand, he is relieved to learn that everyone is doing well and is looking forward to seeing him. This individual tells you, “Your baby is waiting for you.” He asks, “Did they all make it?” and is told that everyone in his family is absolutely okay. Avci requests if he could hear their voices for just a minute and says to the person holding the phone, “God bless you, brother. Thank you so much for this.”
Photographs taken at the hospital show his wife Bilge presenting their newborn daughter, Almile, to her father for the very first time. Avci is seen stroking his daughter’s head while she is still attached to a variety of medical tubes even as he reclines back on a hospital bed and does so. Their moving photographs moved everyone to shed a few tears because they so clearly demonstrated that Avci is one of the fortunate individuals to be reunited with his family.
A user by the handle @MasterPoLives on Twitter made the following observation: “When he asks to hear his family’s voices, ‘even just for a little bit,’ my eyes started watering. I’m so happy for Mustafa and his family. Another person @Deeswishh said, “Wow! Trapped for 11 days! Powerful Anything is possible with the strength and will to live and see another day hoping to see your family!” Twitter user @power_jaguar said, “I’m in tears. What sweet people. What fear & loss they’ve been through together. It’s amazing he survived nearly 11 days buried under rubble.” In the midst of a humanitarian crisis, these shining examples of humanity give hope to those who are struggling.