She ran to them.
Security cameras at a daycare center in Şanlıurfa, in southeastern Turkey, captured everything on September 24. A magnitude 5.4 earthquake began shaking the classroom, and the youngest children were left in the middle of the rug, not understanding what was happening. The teacher didn’t hesitate for a second: she threw herself over them and wrapped her arms around them, one against the other, using her own body as a shield.
The footage shows her holding several children at once, pressing them against her chest as the shaking continued. The door was clear; she had the option of saving herself first. She chose to stay. Seconds later, two other teachers ran into the classroom and carried the little ones to safety.
No one was injured. School authorities organized the evacuation, and all the children got out safely. The shaking stopped, but the video remained: that of a woman who, with the ground moving beneath her feet and the sad recent history of several collapses, decided that they came first.
