https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHdV3mhXxqQToday, baby Delal, who can play games with his father in the hospital room, is actually the bitter face of the war in Syria. Baby Delal, the youngest member of the Dugaym family, who escaped from the attacks of the Assad regime and settled in the tent city in Idlib, was seriously injured in a fire that broke out in their tent on January 1. Baby Delal, whose older sister died in the fire, received third and fourth degree burns, especially on her upper body and head. Little Delal, who was said to be ‘non-viable’ in the hospital across the border where he was taken, was first sent to Iskenderun and from there to Mersin City Training and Research Hospital on January 11. Little Delal, who was brought to the hospital with 40 percent of his body completely burned and shocked even the doctors, has reached the point of being discharged today, after his instinct to hold on to life and the doctors’ struggle for months. Baby Delal, whose treatment at the burn center was completed and followed up in the pediatric ward, will leave the hospital next week and live in the house rented by his father in Mersin.

“My eldest daughter Yasmin and my youngest daughter Delal could not leave the tent.”

Delal’s father, 33-year-old Abdulfattah Dugaym, talked about his little daughter’s struggle for life, which lasted for 3.5 months. Stating that they live in a tent camp in Idlib with their 6 children, 4 girls and 2 boys, and his wife, father Dugaym stated that a fire broke out after his brother lit the stove in the tent and said, “I was not in the tent at that time, I was 100 meters away. It burned so strongly that the children could not get out. 4 people managed to get out through the small window at the back of the tent. My eldest daughter Yasmin and my youngest daughter Delal stayed there. We immediately contacted the authorities and hospitals in Turkey. They came immediately, but my eldest daughter died at the border. “I took Yasmin back to our country and buried her, and we brought Delal here,” he said.

“They said, ‘Your daughter is very bad, she’s turned into coal.’”

Stating that he came to Mersin as a companion on March 9 and learned from hospital officials that Delal was burned very badly, Dugaym said, “When I first took him out of the fire, it wasn’t that bad, only part of his face was burned. It looked like a first degree burn to me, even his arms looked like that. Later we learned that his burn was very serious and he had internal burns as well. News came from here, they said, ‘Your daughter is very bad, she is turned into coal.’ He nearly escaped death three times. Every time they said, “We will send him to Syria for burial,” they would come in the morning and see the child awake. “This is truly an incredible situation,” he said.

“The doctor said he would discharge him in a few days.”

Giving information about Delal’s recent health condition, father Dugaym said, “According to the information our doctor has given us, his internal burns are in a much better condition. His lungs were very badly burned, but we have come a long way now, he is in a very good recovery phase. After a month, his breathing will improve, so the operation will be performed again. We will do exercises to open his arms, the next stage will be surgery. “The doctor said he would discharge him in a few days.”

“What Delal needs most is his mother.”

Dugaym thanks everyone who helped and his only wish is for Delal’s mother to be brought to Mersin. Dugaym said, “What Delal needs most is his mother. I rented a house here and look after him, but he really needs a mother. We are divided, the whole family, if we come here, at least I will be in order. “I video call the mother, she is so happy when she sees her that she starts crying again as soon as I hang up,” he said and asked for help from the authorities to bring his family to Mersin.

“40 percent of his body was completely burned.”

General Surgery Specialist Opr., who was among the expert team that treated Delal at the Burn Center. Dr. Çağatay Demirci stated that he was shocked when he first saw Delal and said, “40 percent of our patient’s body was completely burned, resulting in irreversible skin loss. Especially the fingers, ears and nose were completely black like coal. We immediately underwent emergency surgery and performed some special surgeries to protect other tissues. Delal was 18 months old when he came to us; He underwent 8 major and 8 medium surgeries for 2.5 months, all the burn areas were cleaned, and patches were made from other parts. But our main problem was that during this whole process, the child had respiratory tract and lung burns, which were caused by breathing hot air rather than surgery. “This was a factor that forced us a lot,” he said.

“He experienced very severe sepsis, which we call ‘very fatal’, 3 times.”

Stating that they encountered a condition called ‘sepsis’ three times during the treatment process, in which the blood was completely covered with microbes, Demirci continued as follows: “All three conditions are issues that we consider very fatal in world medicine. Since 40 percent of our children have third and fourth degree burns, it is a big deal that they are already alive. One of our children, for whom we said ’10 percent will survive or not’, also experienced very severe sepsis 3 times in three separate periods. In fact, the microorganism produced in his last sepsis was such that, as far as we knew, it would not respond to any known antibiotic in the world. But by working very seriously as a whole team, we helped this child survive again.”

“Thankfully, our child, who was considered to have a 90 percent chance of survival, is alive as of today.”

Stating that not only the efforts of the team, but also Delal’s desire to hold on to life and his instinctive behaviors affected the whole team, Demirci said, “We made intense efforts day and night, as if he were our own child. When the child has the inner world to hold on to such a life, of course, success can come along with it. A child who is at great risk of being lost, a child who is considered to have a 90 percent chance of survival, is thankfully alive as of today. “He has many troubles and problems, he will have to undergo a lot of treatment in the long term, but we can say this, being alive is a very good thing,” he said.

“We often wondered if we would see the morning, but he opened his eyes to us the next morning.”

Saying that they often had moments when they lost hope for baby Delal, Demirci said, “We went every evening saying, ‘Will we see the morning, will there be a morning for this child, will he see another ray of sunshine in the morning?’ However, there were especially 4-5 periods when we experienced moments when we said, ‘We have come to the end of the road now’ and very interestingly, the next morning, that child made a living and opened his eyes to us, responded to our treatments and gave us enthusiasm. “He even gave us the education ‘No matter what happens, hope will not be lost, we will continue’,” he said.

Stating that Delal has overcome the first stage, which is survival, Demirci said that a very long process is required to regain his natural appearance and improve his weak functions, and the most important thing is to receive very serious psychiatric support.

Delal’s treatment in the pediatric ward was carried out by Pediatric Surgery Specialist Opr. Dr. Arman Api and Child Health and Diseases Specialist Dr. Aydın Yücel took responsibility. Stating that they created a natural opening in the windpipe by applying a tracheostomy to Delal, whose trachea was also affected in the fire, Api said, “He came in a very distressed situation, we have recovered a lot for now and he is ready to be discharged in a very short time. “He may be discharged next week,” he said. (Mersin Times)