The 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Türkiye earlier this month was catastrophic, leaving a trail of death and destruction in its wake.
Besides human beings, rescuers also found many animals in the ruins of collapsed buildings.
One such instance was when a Türkiye firefighter rescued a cat who was trapped for 129 hours in the debris.
However, as no one stepped forward to claim the feline, the firefighter decided to adopt him.
The heartwarming story was initially shared by Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, on Twitter.
The video has since gone viral, garnering over 12 million views at the time of writing.
According to the Daily Mail, 33-year-old firefighter Ali Cakas rescued the cat from the ruins of a collapsed apartment block.
The black and white cat was reportedly trapped under the rubble for a whopping 129 hours.
Upon his rescue, the animal refused to leave Mr Cakas’ side as he continued to look for survivors in Nurdagi, a city in the Gaziantep province of eastern Türkiye.
Source: Twitter
Subsequently, Mr Cakas and his colleagues decided to name him Enkaz, which means “debris” in Turkish.
However, as time passed, it became clear that Enkaz’s owner did not survive the earthquake as no one stepped forward to claim him.
As a result, Mr Cakas decided to bring Enkaz back home with him to Mardin, around 400km away from Nurdagi.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, Mr Cakas said that his family supports his decision to adopt Enkaz and they now see the cat as part of them.
Source: @enkaz.tr on Instagram
“He has never fallen from my lap since the day he arrived,” he shared. “We bonded quickly. We both had a tough time. We’ll get through this trauma by hugging each other.”
Besides that, Mr Cakas shared that he and his fellow firefighters had been deployed to Nurdagi within hours of the earthquake.
His team then started searching for survivors in the collapsed apartment block. Thankfully, they were able to rescue five people from under the rubble.
Additionally, they also rescued three pet birds, Enkaz, and another cat. The latter cat’s owner had managed to escape the building and they were reunited.
At the scene, Mr Cakas and Enkaz “formed a nice bond”. He then vowed that he would not leave the kitty behind after rescue operations ended.
While Enkaz is “smart, beautiful, and docile”, his eyes have a sense of “sadness” over the loss of his home and owner, Mr Cakas added.
“He’s been sad since the day he arrived,” he said. “Animals also have feelings. In this sense, I try to do everything I can.”
The Türkiye earthquake was nothing short of a tragedy, leaving many people and pets without a home.
Kudos to Mr Cakas and his colleagues for their rescue efforts, and for providing Enkaz with a new and loving home.
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Featured images adapted from Twitter & @enkaz.tr on Instagram.
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