‘Miracle baby’ burned in tent fire beating the odds – but mum says she’s shunned by society

Published

1 year ago

June 23, 2024

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Dalal is the little Syrian girl they never thought would survive.

Now four years old, despite horrific burn scars and no hands she is confounding the doctors, her family and everyone who knows her, all over again.

We watch as she concentrates hard on manoeuvring a pen between the stumps which she’s been left with. It is tough work for the little girl with no fingers.

She’s bent right over the paper she’s working on, trying hard to write her name as well as simple numbers. We notice she can manage to draw outlines which resemble hearts.

This young girl so badly mutilated by fire has a big heart herself despite her physical disadvantages.

Her eyesight’s not brilliant either, with heavy skin scarring all over her face making it hard to open them fully. Dalal’s skull is bald but for tufts of hair at her nape.

But her older sisters, Gazal and Hala, tie the little hair she has into a ponytail like theirs.

Doctors fought for months to save Dalal’s life not really believing they would succeed or she would have the strength for the multiple operations she needed to pull through.

When we first saw her, she was swathed from head to toe in bandages and had many horrific burns.

We first reported on her when she was a baby. Fire had ripped through her family’s tent, which had been pitched in a field in northwest Syria in the middle of the winter of 2021.

Her family had fled their home in Idlib province and were close to the Turkish border – along with tens of thousands of others trying to escape the regime bombing and fighting between Bashar al Assad’s troops, anti-regime groups and other militias.

The winter was bitter and the temperature in their tent near to freezing. There was a fire stove the adults lit to try to keep the family of six small children warm. But somehow the tent caught fire.

Her eldest sister, Yasmin, who was about 10, desperately tried to save Dalal, who was then a baby. But Yasmin was quickly overwhelmed by flames and smoke and could not be resuscitated.

Four of her younger siblings managed to scramble to safety or were helped out, but Dalal was already engulfed in flames. By the time she was pulled out, she was horrifically burned and barely alive.

Turkish authorities gave permission for her to be whisked across the border as a medical emergency and she was raced to Mersin hospital – unaccompanied by any family members at this stage.

A team of doctors and nurses worked tirelessly to save her.

‘Skin black like cole’

Lead surgeon Dr Cagatay Demirci told me then he never believed they’d be able to save her. She was so badly injured; her burns were so deep and she was so young, the challenges seemed insurmountable.

Her skin was “black like coal in many places”, the doctor said.

“Our team went to work on her and did what we could, but we left that night thinking she would not make it through the night,” he said at the time.

“But when we came back in the morning, she was still here, still alive. And we thought okay, this baby wants to live.”

And as she continued to pull through each complex operation – and there have been many – she confounded everybody. They called her the “miracle baby”.

But surgeons couldn’t save her fingers and had to amputate all her digits. Her face was terribly burned, the flames eating away at her eyelids, lips, hair, ears and hair follicles and feet.

Dr Demirci said then: “She will need many, many operations throughout her whole childhood as she grows and develops.”

Sky’s coverage of her astonishing survival was spotted by a single mum in Britain who was so moved by Dalal’s tale of tragedy and endurance, she set up a JustGiving page.

Within a few weeks, Lisa Cavey saw tens of thousands of pounds had been raised which would pay for an entirely new life for Dalal’s family.

First her father, Abdul Fattah, travelled to Turkey and stayed with her for months as she had operation after operation.

When it became apparent her survival depended being out of the Syrian battlefield and remaining in Turkey to receive medical help, the donations ensured passports were organised and funded the rest of the family.

Turkish authorities agreed her heavily pregnant mother and four siblings could join her.

The money helped pay rent for the family, now living as refugees in southern Turkey alongside four million other Syrians who fled the war across the border. It also contributed to medical help – because Dalal is likely to need multiple operations for years to come.

Ms Cavey has been in regular contact with the family ever since. “I cried when I saw the news report about Dalal,” she told me.

“Being a mother myself, I realised that could have been my daughter. They are of a similar age.

“I just felt it was so wrong that this had happened, and the family were in this situation through no fault of their own. I felt compelled to take some action.”

A Turkish-based charity called INARA, set up and run by journalist Arwa Damon, took on Dalal’s case and helped connect her with doctors and physiotherapists who’ve been helping her with her injuries ever since.

“Dalal’s case is exactly why I founded INARA,” she explained.

“To be an organisation that is willing and able to take on complex cases that require critical surgeries over the course of a child’s development,” adds Ms Damon.

“Often, what I saw from my experience in war zones is that these children tend to fall through the cracks in access to medical care or do not receive the many surgeries they need and as such end up relegated to a life in the shadows.

“INARA through its medical and mental health programme basically gives them the ability to see that their life is not over, that they do deserve and can be a part of society, even though it might be hard.”

Brave Dalal ‘not accepted’

But the war in Gaza, as well as the global economic downturn, has seen a depletion of public finances and much aid support for humanitarian groups diverted.

Doctors believe Dalal needs multiple expensive surgeries and are investigating if it’s possible to create fingers for her, perhaps by performing an intricate transplant of some of her toes to her hands.

Nothing has been decided yet as they explore the best options, but any surgery is expensive and Turkish authorities are dealing with inflation at around 70% and a crippling cost of living crisis.

Her mother, Fatima, is praying for more medical treatment for her daughter and describes heartbreaking moments in the playground when other children catch sight of Dalal.

“They scream in fear,” she says. “She is not accepted by the society. That is a fact.” She says she’s struggling to get any school to admit Dalal for the same reason.

Dalal is astonishingly independent, shrugging off help as she pulls on socks herself using her stumps – and climbs up the kitchen doorframe positioning her severed arms to hold herself up.

Each achievement is applauded by her family – but her now five siblings tell us of the hours of frustration, the tears and anger too.

“She cuts salad with us,” her eldest sister Gazal says. “She wants to do everything but she cries and says ‘why don’t I have fingers?'”

Alex Crawford reports from Southern Turkey with cameraman Jake Britton, specialist producer Chris Cunningham and Syria producer Mahmoud Mosa.

World

Zelenskyy demands ‘clear position’ from Trump on ending war

Published

3 hours ago

September 16, 2025

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Zelenskyy demands 'clear position' from Trump on ending war

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for a “clear position” from Donald Trump to stop Vladimir Putin and end the war in Ukraine.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News’ lead world presenter Yalda Hakim, the Ukrainian president said the only way for the fighting to stop was for defined security guarantees to first be put in place.

And that, he said, could only come if Mr Trump was bold.

He told Sky News he hopes UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer would drill into the detail of securing Ukraine’s future with the president during his state visit to Britain this week.

He said: “I very much hope he (Starmer) will be able to have a very specific discussion on the security guarantees of the US for Ukraine.

“Before we end the war, I really want to have all the agreements in place. I want to… have a document that is supported by the US and all European partners. This is very important.

“To make this happen, we need a clear position of President Trump.”

‘Make Putin afraid’

Mr Zelenskyy also urged the US leader to take “strong personal steps” to “stop Putin”, after Mr Trump urged NATO allies to stop buying Russian oil and put tariffs on China to pressure Moscow.

“I believe that the US is strong enough to take decisions of their own,” he said. “I believe Donald Trump can give us air defence systems in quantity and US has enough.

“I’m sure the US can apply enough sanctions in order to hurt the Russian economy, plus Donald Trump has enough force to make Putin afraid of him.

“Europe has already introduced 18 sanctions packages against Russia. And all that’s lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US.”

His comments came following criticism in his interview with Sky News – at the Presidential Palace in Kyiv – of the recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska.

He said Mr Trump “gave a lot to Putin” and that “he should have paid more” for it.

“I believe, if it was a trilateral meeting [with Ukraine included], we would have some result,” he added.

Putin ‘testing NATO’, warns Zelenskyy

As news broke that British fighter jets were flying air defence missions over Poland after a Russian drone incursion, Hakim asked the Ukrainian leader what message he thought Putin was sending to Europeans.

“He’s testing NATO,” he said. “He wants to see what NATO is ready for, what they’re capable of, both diplomatically and politically, and how the local population will respond to this.”

“Also, in my opinion, the other message they are sending is, ‘don’t you dare to give Ukraine additional air defence systems, because you might need them yourself.'”

Bristling with frustration – Zelenskyy’s message is clear

Yalda Hakim

Lead world news presenter

@SkyYaldaHakim

Ukraine’s president has a very clear message for Trump – you alone have the power to stop Putin, and the time to act is now.

Meeting with me in Kyiv on the eve of the US president’s state visit to Britain, Zelenskyy bristled with frustration at the failure of the Western powers to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, even as the Russians escalated their attacks on Ukraine.

Asked if the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska has proven a mistake, he responded without hesitation that Putin is clearly not paying a price for his actions.

Zelenskyy believes Trump is reluctant to put pressure on Putin because it might jeopardise attempts to end the war.

But the Ukrainian leader argues this isn’t the way to handle the Russian president.

Zelenskyy also argued Trump’s emphasis on getting the Europeans to ratchet up economic pressure – foremost by stopping their purchases of Russian energy and tariffing other buyers like China and India – was understandable, but that the world’s sole superpower shouldn’t wait for others to act.

Trump has called on EU countries to end all Russian oil and gas purchases – and only then will he consider imposing sanctions on Russia.

Mr Trump arrives in the UK today for an unprecedented second state visit, following an invitation from King Charles.

He and First Lady Melania will stay at Windsor Castle and be treated to a flypast by the Red Arrows as well as UK and US F-35 military jets on the east lawn, and a special Beating Retreat military ceremony.

They will also visit Chequers, the prime minister’s official country residence in Buckinghamshire, though details of what they will discuss – and whether it will include the situation in Ukraine – have not been revealed.

World

Face-to-face with Zelenskyy, his frustration with the West is clear

Published

6 hours ago

September 16, 2025

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Face-to-face with Zelenskyy, his frustration with the West is clear

Ukraine’s president has a very clear message for Donald Trump – you alone have the power to stop Vladimir Putin, and the time to act is now.

Meeting with me in Kyiv on the eve of the US president’s state visit to Britain, Volodymyr Zelenskyy bristled with frustration at the failure of the Western powers to ramp up pressure on the Kremlin, even as the Russians escalated their attacks on Ukraine.

Asked if the summit between Trump and Putin in Alaska has proven a mistake, he responded without hesitation that Putin is clearly not paying a price for his actions.

“He should have received a setback in this war and stop. Instead, he received de-isolation,” he said.

“He definitely wants to trick the US. He is doing everything he can to avoid sanctions, to prevent the US and Trump from putting sanctions on him.”

Zelenskyy believes Trump is reluctant to put pressure on Putin because it might jeopardise attempts to end the war.

But the Ukrainian leader argues this isn’t the way to handle the Russian president: “He understands force. That’s his language. That’s the language he understands. He doesn’t speak many languages, but that’s the language of force he understands – just like Russian, you know, his mother tongue.”

Zelenskyy also argued Trump’s emphasis on getting the Europeans to ratchet up economic pressure – foremost by stopping their purchases of Russian energy, and by putting tariffs on other buyers like China and India – was understandable, but that the world’s superpower shouldn’t wait for others to act.

Trump has called on EU countries to end all Russian oil and gas purchases, and only then will he consider imposing sanctions on Russia.

“I think the US is strong enough on its own,” Zelenskyy said.

“They can make this happen quicker and all that’s lacking now is a strong sanctions package from the US.”

World

Russia and Belarus’s military drills are part-theatre – but Moscow is trying to send a message

Published

9 hours ago

September 15, 2025

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Russia and Belarus's military drills are part-theatre - but Moscow is trying to send a message

At times, the sound of these military drills was deafening.

There were fighter jets screaming overhead, air strikes on “enemy” forces, and tracer rounds from artillery units pounding out of the barrels.

Fireballs and mushroom clouds would periodically appear far off on the landscape, followed by a sudden explosive thud several seconds later.

I was watching from the safety of a viewing platform, along with other members of the international media.

But even at that distance, the various blasts were still powerful enough to reverberate through me.

This was the fourth day of ‘Zapad-2025’ – the joint military drills Russia holds with Belarus roughly every four years.

It took place at a training ground near the city of Borisov in Belarus, 150km from the Lithuanian border.

Moscow and Minsk insist the exercises are “defensive”. In this case, they said they were gaming out how they would respond to an attack by a NATO member.

But as I watched, I couldn’t help feeling that the training aspect was only one part of it.

The other part felt like theatre – a show of strength designed to intimidate those watching across the border on Europe’s eastern flank.

The drills were smaller than previous years, most likely because Russia still needs its troops and equipment at the front in Ukraine.

But it still felt like Moscow was trying to send a message here – that despite the costs and casualties incurred fighting Kyiv, it’s still a force to be reckoned with.

For Belarus’s neighbours, these are anxious times. The last Zapad drills in 2021 were used as a springboard for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a few months later. And so this time, Poland has closed its border, and like Lithuania, it’s holding military drills of its own.

Afterwards, I tried to catch up with some of the defence dignitaries from foreign militaries, who had been invited to observe the drills. I wanted to see what they made of the show.

“A very good demonstration,” a senior officer from Pakistan told me, declining to give his name.

“It gives us an insight of how war is being fought, with new technologies, in this part of the world.”

But what about Poland’s concerns?

“Are they right to be nervous?” I asked. “Would you be nervous if you were next door?”

“Why would I be nervous?” he replied. “Being Pakistani, I know what I’m capable of. So I shouldn’t be nervous by somebody else doing exercises.”

“So NATO has no need to worry?” I continued.

“No, I don’t think so. NATO shouldn’t be worried.”

There were actually some representatives from NATO members among the observers.

Delegations from Hungary and Turkey are no surprise – both countries have good relations with Moscow – but a team from the United States did raise eyebrows.

A further sign, it seems, that the Trump administration is seeking to build bridges with the Kremlin, despite the lack of progress towards a Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

Unfortunately, none of those officials would answer my questions. Wary, perhaps, of sticking their head above the parapet, as the alliance seeks to present a united front.