‘Mystery Baby’ rescued from rubble and reunited with mother after 54 days apart

Natural disasters are incredibly scary. The idea of losing family members and loved ones to circumstances outside of our control is heartbreaking. This mother had the most traumatizing experience where she thought she lost everything…

Then there was a ray of light… keep reading to find out more.

In February 2023, a magnitude of 7.8 hit the southern parts of Turkey. The earthquake caused massive destruction and killed tens of thousands of people, and even more were trapped under the rubble of broken buildings.

In the city of Adana, a tiny infant was unearthed from the rubble after having been trapped under it for over 128 hours. The baby was miraculously unharmed but no one had any clue who the baby was, as its family was nowhere to be found.

The baby was put into the care of the state and named Gizem, which meant ‘mystery’ in Turkish. The next 54 days consisted of authorities trying to track down the infant’s family without much success. They came to the conclusion that the baby’s family might have also been among the fatalities of the earthquake.

But in another part of Turkey, Yaseming Besdag lay in a hospital bed, mourning everything the earthquake had taken from her. Her husband, her two sons, and her infant daughter, Vetin. A family member of Besdag heard the government was working to reunite parents with their lost children and reached out to make sure all of Yaseming’s children had indeed passed away.

But when officials did a DNA test, the found out that Gizem was not a mystery baby but in fact she had a family and a name… she was Vetin! Turkey’s Minister of Family and Social Services, Derya Yanik personally made the journey to reunite the mother with her lost infant daughter.

The mother and child had been separated for almost two months. Yaseming spent that time in agony, thinking she had lost every member of her family. Her relief at having her baby girl back was immense.

The video made of the mother’s reunion with her baby is incredibly emotional to watch. “To witness their happiness is an emotional and beautiful moment for us, too. Uniting a mother with her child is one of the most precious deeds in the world,” Derya said in the video.

If you found this piece interesting, check out this one about how a 7-year-old sister kept her little brother safe amidst all the rubble after an earthquake.

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This is such a heartwarming story of loss and life. This goes to show you that holding on to hope sometimes pays off. Share this with others who might need a reminder of this.