An psychological video reveals a “cheerful” reunion in between a survivor of among the effective earthquakes that strike Turkey last month and the animal cat that saved her life.
Rumeysa Gürbüz was at home asleep on February 6 in the city of Iskenderun on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast when a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the area. The quake—among the greatest ever taped in the Levant area—and subsequent effective aftershocks triggered substantial damage in Iskenderun.
The health center where Gürbüz worked as a nurse was damaged with much of her associates passing away while on watch. Her home likewise entirely collapsed as an outcome of the quake.
Fortunately, her precious animal cat Leyla woke her up 15 minutes prior to the earthquake struck, allowing her to leave. When the quake struck, Gürbüz leapt out the window of her home, hurting her legs.
“If I had not awakened, I would have remained in the wreckage,” Gürbüz said in remarks supplied to Newsweek by animal well-being not-for-profit Humane Society International (HSI). “I owe her a lot. We live, there is hope.”
HSI has groups on the ground in Turkey working to help rescue and look after animals caught in structures or displaced in the streets. Field centers where the not-for-profit is working have actually dealt with numerous animals suffering cuts and contusions, infections, shock, dehydration and poor nutrition.
Additionally, HSI groups have actually been reacting to pleas for help from residents desperate to discover their lost family pets. In some cases, HSI has actually handled to find the animals and reunite them with their owners, as held true with Gürbüz and Leyla.
After being hurt in the quake, Gürbüz was left to Istanbul. But she published a plea on Facebook in a desperate effort to discover Leyla. HSI saw the post and started looking for the cat however at first was not successful.
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“Rumeysa’s house was entirely collapsed, however we understood where it was so that’s where HSI’s group browsed,” HSI representative Wendy Higgins informed Newsweek. “Our group browsed numerous times for Leyla, however she was too worried to come out, we think, and there was no indication of her.”
Kelly Donithan, HSI’s director of animal catastrophe action who was assisting to find Leyla, asked Gürbüz to send her a voice message calling the animal’s name in an effort to tempt the cat out. After a great deal of persistence, the technique worked and the frightened animal lastly emerged from the wreckage.
“[There were] great deals of happy purrs from Leyla when she was safe,” Higgins said.
Upon hearing the bright side, Gürbüz took a trip back from Istanbul—with both of her legs in casts—to a veterinary field center where HSI is working to the south of Iskenderun. There she was reunited with her animal in a “cheerful” conference, which was caught on video.
“Meeting Rumeysa and reuniting her with her gorgeous Leyla was among the most moving experiences of my time in Türkiye,” Donithan informed Newsweek. “Rumeysa plainly loves Leyla, and when you hear her story of how Leyla woke her on the day the earthquake struck, it’s not difficult to see why she was so enjoyed hear the news that Leyla lived and well.
“We had an extremely tearful however cheerful reunion occasion at the field health center where HSI’s group is based, and it was heartfelt to see Rumeysa and Leyla sharing a much-needed hug. These reunions suggest a lot to the victims of the earthquake who have actually lost a lot, and it is an honor to be a part of making that take place. Every life saved from the destruction is valuable.”
HSI likewise handled to reunite other precious family pets with their owners. Among them is a cat called Fluffy who was caught in a home building.
“HSI utilized a drone to search for Fluffy after the military signaled us to hearing a meow,” Higgins said. “Working with a drone operator who remained in the location, Kelly Donithan had the ability to see where Fluffy was caught in a third-floor home of an unstable building. With the help of the military and Kelly’s specialist animal managing guidance, the rescue was a success.
“Fluffy was not microchipped, however a search of the family name that the group had actually identified on the entryway of the home building revealed the owner who the group had the ability to reach. Two member of the family pertained to gather Fluffy in a psychological reunion. Fluffy’s kidneys suffered from dehydration, however she is on the repair.”
Another case includes a young kitten called Mezza, who was saved by HSI and reunited with owner Ali.
“Thankfully, Ali and his family members made it out of the earthquake, however their kitten was too terrified, concealing and unable to be discovered,” Higgins said. “HSI set a trap to capture Mezza and lastly had success. Ali and Mezza were reunited.”
Most of the family pets that HSI has actually rescued, obtained or dealt with have actually been dogs and cats. But Wiggins said other animals are likewise waiting to be reunited with their owners, consisting of a goldfish and some animal pigeons.
Donithan said it is difficult to approximate the number of animals have actually been affected by the earthquakes that have actually triggered prevalent damage throughout parts of Turkey and Syria, however the numbers are “definitely high.”
The scale of the human toll is clearer. More than 53,000 deaths have actually been validated in Turkey and Syria as an outcome of the earthquakes, making the occasion among the most dangerous natural catastrophes of the 21st century.
Tens of countless individuals from nations worldwide have actually signed up with rescue and action efforts.
