A baby girl who was born amid the rubble and residue of typhoon Haiyan in a Philippine city is being called a “miracle,” according to a report by NDTV.
Emili Sagalis, 21, burst into tears of joy after giving birth to her daughter at a destroyed airport compound which had been turned into a makeshift medical centre.
Sagalis named her daughter after her mother who was washed in the typhoon which has so far killed thousands.
“She is so beautiful. I will name her Bea Joy in honour of my mother Beatriz,” NDTV quoted Sagalis as saying shortly after she gave birth.
The typhoon has killed at least 10,000 in province of Leyte, and experts are concerned the toll may be higher.
"She is my miracle. I had thought I would die with her still inside me when high waves came and took us all away," Sagalis said.
Her husband, Jobert, who was by her told NDTV said the first wave that came carried their wooden home in the coastal town of San Jose many metres inland, washing all of the family outside.
He said the entire community had been washed away, with the once picturesque area replaced by rubble and the bloated remains of people and animals. He said it was by God’s grace that he found his wife floating in the debris.
They were carried away for what felt like hours until the water subsided, and they found themselves sheltering in a school building where other mud-soaked and injured survivors had huddled, according to NDTV. The couple and their surviving neighbours waited there till Monday morning only on bottles of water they found among the debris. Jobert said he knew that his wife was about to give birth any day, but no help or aid had come.
"She began labour at 5:00am (Monday) so we had to walk several kilometres before a truck driver hitched us a ride," he told NDTV.
A young military doctor attended to her. Captain Victoriano Sambale said the new mother had already broken her waters by the time the couple reached the building, and then developed bleeding during the delivery.
"This is the first time we have delivered a baby here. The baby is fine and we have managed to stop the bleeding of the mother," he said.
In a mix of joy yet sorrow, Jobert said: "We are supposed to be celebrating today, but we are also mourning our dead."