TEHRAN — 13-year-old Haniyeh is her family’s hero by risking her life to save her baby sister from approaching death during Kermanshah strong quake.

Over a month after Kermanshah deadly temblor, hitting the city on November 12, quake-victims are still battling their ways to a normal life. 

Many unsung heroes, must have taken their lives in their hands to save other people’s lives; their unheard stories could have ended happily or tragically but here we are with the story of Haniyeh Yazdan-Shenas, a teenage girl who had risked her neck to save her 3-year-old sister trapped under heap of crumbling rubble of their house. 

The magnitude 7.3 earthquake which decimated a lot of villages across the western province of Iran left many displaced while mourning the loss of their loved ones or pacing restlessly up and down at the hospitals praying for the recovery of their family members. 

Many unsung heroes, must have taken their lives in their hands to save other people’s lives; their unheard stories could have ended happily or tragically but here we are with the story of Haniyeh Yazdan-Shenas, a teenage girl who had risked her neck to save her 3-year-old sister trapped under heap of crumbling rubble of their house. 

As Haniyeh recounted the event she was out in the front yard while the earthquake hit their village, in Sarpol-e Zahab. “I saw my mum and other family members who were escaping with injured limbs, but I suddenly remembered my baby sister Hoda was inside the house sleeping and I didn’t see anyone taking her outside.”

“So, scared as I was I entered the house which was reduced to rubble, I ran while I was being hit by debris falling from the ceiling and the walls, I went inside and took Hoda…,” Haniyeh said.

With the help of the neighbors Hoda was taken out of the debris of the house safe and sound but Haniyeh, who is supposed to be hit in the back by the debris was transferred to a hospital in Kermanshah.

Her brother and father were also hospitalized in the city of Hamedan; the family didn’t heard from one another for four days. Due to the gravity of her injuries Haniyeh’s mother was also transferred to a hospital in Tehran, but her sister wasn’t injured at all. 

Now Haniyeh, who had a spinal surgery, is temporarily unable to walk but doctors are hopeful that she retains her ability to walk again by undergoing physiotherapy treatment. 

The Yazdan-Shenas family, who are currently dislodged, are dreaming of a day that they can once again gather in their own house in fine fettle.

MQ/MG