A screenshot of a YouTube video by Nour Media Center showing the rescue operation
Good news from war-torn Syria is rare these days. Just last week, the United Nations revised its death toll [1] for the bloody conflict between forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and the factions that are opposed to his rule to more than 191,000. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay lamented that there is “no end in sight.”
With the situation so grim, let’s revisit one of those rare uplifting moments to come out of Syria in the last year. To those who don't believe in miracles, here is one.
This video, which has been watched [2] more than a million times on YouTube via various accounts, shows a Syrian toddler being saved after the young child was completely buried in the ruins of her home following an explosion from a barrel bomb attack in Syria's second largest city, Aleppo.
Originally posted [3] in Arabic by Nour Media Center, the video of the miracle survival was shared by news site euronews [4] and YouTube user Cometotruth [2] on January 24, 2014.
The good news came one week after her rescue on January 29, 2014. ATJEH CYBER WARRIOR shared [5] the English-subtitled video identifying the toddler as a girl named Ghina:
Ghina is alive again after she was pulled from under the rubble. The warplanes shell the buildings, but human beings and children are the victims. Ghina lost her mother when they were buried under the rubble due to shelling. Ghina was lucky, but her mother wasn't. Now Ghina lives with her father and six siblings in their displaced house that lacks the minimum necessities of life.
Ghina is one of thousands of Syrian children who are paying a heavy price in the civil war [6], now in its third year. More than 191,000 people have died [1] in the bloody conflict for control of Syria between forces loyal to President Bashar Al-Assad and the factions that are opposed to his rule, who first rose up during the wave of Arab Spring demonstrations across the region. Ghina was a victim of the crude barrel bombs [7] that the government has dropped on civilian areas despite international condemnation [7].
Want to help Syria's children? Take a look at our post “Children Crisis in Syria” [8] to learn how.