‘I never thought I would come out’ Survivor of Turkey’s earthquake who was reunited with his wife and newborn baby after being trapped in hospital ruins for 261 hours tells of his battle to stay alive

• Mustafa Avci, 34, was trapped in the ruins of an Antakya private hospital
• He said: ‘I didn’t believe that I would come to light again’ following the quake

A survivor of Turkey’s earthquake who was reunited with his wife and newborn baby after being trapped in the ruins of a hospital for nearly 11 days has revealed his battle for survival.

The joy that Mustafa Avci, 34, felt at being a father for the first time turned to horror when the earthquake struck just three hours after his wife Bilge, 27, gave birth by caesarean.

The hospital collapsed just minutes after the laboratory technician had left his wife and premature daughter Almila to go and buy biscuits from the canteen.

Bilge and her daughter and mother-in-law miraculously escaped injury as the fourth floor recovery room that they were in stayed largely intact in the disaster.

She feared her husband had died as hospital staff helped her to crawl and stagger out of the wreckage of the private Academy Hospital in Antakya.

This is the tender moment a father is introduced to his newborn daughter for the first time after spending eleven days under earthquake rubble in Turkey

Pictures from the hospital show his wife Bilge presenting baby Almile to her father Mustafa Avci, 33, for the first time. Avci is seen in pictures kissing his daughter’s head, while lying back on a hospital bed while still hooked up to various medical tubes

But Mustafa incredibly survived with another man Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26, when they were trapped in a void on the ground floor of the modern building.

He remained trapped, fearing that his wife and baby had been killed in the room above him, before he was eventually rescued after 261 hours.

Mustafa who had an injury to his foot and was suffering from dehydration was taken to the Mersin City Training Hospital to recover.

Pictures of him being reunited with his wife and baby on Saturday as he lay in his hospital bed touched the hearts of people around the world.

Describing his ordeal, Mustafa said: ‘I didn’t believe that I would come to light again… I never thought I would come out.

‘I thought my wife and children were dead. I am now so happy. I feel like I have been born again. I only have a little pain.’

Mustafa told how he bonded with Mehmet who was trapped alongside him in the pitch darkness, saying: ‘We became two friends.

‘But if I saw him in the street, I would not know him because I never saw his face and he never saw mine as it was so dark.’

Mustafa Avci (pictured), 33, was rescued alongside Mehmet Ali Sakiroglu, 26. The pair became trapped when the health centre they were in collapsed on February 6, as south-west Turkey and parts of Syria were devastated two powerful quakes

Bilge said she feared ‘she was in hell’ when the earthquake struck and was convinced her husband had died in a part of the building that had completely collapsed.

Speaking of her relief at his survival, she said: ‘I had lost hope, but now my hopes have bloomed again.

‘I feel re-born now because I was so afraid that my baby would grow up without a father.

‘I believe that God heard our baby’s voice. We prayed so much and those prayers were not in vain.

‘I am very happy. I still get goosebumps when I recall how I was told that Mustafa was alive. I didn’t believe it until I saw him with my own eyes.’

Bilge said she and baby Almila had been taken after her caesarean surgery to a fourth floor gynaecology outpatient clinic which only ‘partially collapsed’ in the earthquake.

She added: ‘Of course, it was difficult for a woman with caesarean section to go down. I went down in a very difficult situation.

‘Thank God for giving me that strength. How I got up, how I got down, I don’t know. We were in the room with the baby. I had given birth only three hours before the earthquake.

‘I remember everything piece by piece. We threw ourselves very hard. A few volunteers came to our rescue and we crawled downstairs with my baby.’

Bilge and Almila were kept in hospital for Mersin for a week for checks before being discharged.

She added: ‘We’re fine… It’s like we’re born again. I will start my second life again. Never again will I let it go.

‘I say it was destiny, God says everything has an order. I experienced both heaven and hell in 12 days.

‘But thankfully, our family is complete. Mustafa will also be very good, I hope everything will go well.’

Incredible footage of Mustafa’s rescue showed how him speaking on the phone to a relative to ask if his family was safe while he was wrapped in a thermal blanket and wearing a neck brace on a stretcher.

The clip which was released by Turkish authorities features a rescuer holding a mobile phone to his face as he says, ‘Fahri, how are you?… How are you my dear brother?

The relative is then heard crying on the end of the telephone after saying in disbelief: ‘Brother? Where are you?’

The hospital collapsed just minutes after the laboratory technician had left his wife and premature daughter Almila to go and buy biscuits from the canteen. Pictured: Destruction in Antakya, Turkey (file image)

Mustafa added in the call: ‘I am fine. I have no problems. I think I am at [the] training and research hospital. They will direct me where ever is suitable. I have no problems.’

He then asks what happened to his family, saying: ‘Have they all been rescued?’

The relative could be heard replying: ‘They are all good. They are waiting for you.’

The footage showed Mustafa kissing the hand of the rescuer holding the phone, as he thanked him saying: ‘May God bless you a thousand times, brother! May God always help you in need!’

Mustafa’s brother Abdulkadir Avcı, who had been keeping a vigil for him at the ruins of the hospital since the earthquake struck two-weeks-ago said: ‘My sister-in-law, my mother and Almila survived because they were in the hospital room without any damage.

‘But my older brother was in the rubble. Teams from abroad also carried out investigations when rescue operations began in the hospital wreckage.

‘They told us, ‘We have not found any signs of life here’. But just when we had lost all hope, my brother and his friend were pulled out alive from the wreckage.

‘Thank you to all the search and rescue teams that helped save my brother. May God not make us suffer such pain again.’

Mustafa’s father added: ‘I had completely lost all hope. This is a true miracle They gave me my son back. I saw the wreckage and I thought nobody could be saved alive from there.’

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