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Menekşe Nur Akkaya Gökdaş, who survived a passenger ferry sinking off the coast of Girne in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus while eight months pregnant, has given birth to a baby girl named Alara. She said the family dropped its first choice of name, "Deniz," after the trauma of the accident.

Gökdaş recounted the sinking and the rescue that followed to an Anadolu Agency (AA) reporter at the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM), where she arrived with her 19-day-old daughter to thank MHP Kütahya Deputy Ahmet Erbaş for his support.

Family travelling to Turkey for the birth

Gökdaş said she and her spouse lived in Girne and that her family had come to visit. The accident happened as she was travelling to Turkey with her relatives to give birth. About 20 minutes after departure, the ferry capsized, she said.

The incident unfolded very quickly, Gökdaş said, and those on board did not at first understand what was happening. "The ship rolled over so fast and the interior filled with water that we barely escaped with our lives," she said, according to her account to AA.

Escape through a broken window

Gökdaş said her sibling and mother broke a window and got out that way. Because of her advanced pregnancy and the small size of the opening, she said she did not attempt to follow them. She and her father remained inside, while her youngest sibling was pulled forward because of the child's small size.

They were in a place that was hard to reach, she said. "Only at the very end, in desperation, I started shouting, 'I'm eight months pregnant, save me,'" Gökdaş said. She said the thought of telling people she was pregnant or asking for help had not occurred to her before that moment. Once she said she was pregnant, others reached out and pulled her up.

With their help, she said, she was pulled through a window onto the top of the ship, and rescue boats later arrived alongside.

Injury, sunken rescue boat and hospital stay

Gökdaş said she had to jump from a height into the sea before being hauled onto a rescue boat with a rope. She said she took a blow to the abdomen and suffered internal bleeding, which put her at risk of preterm labour and kept her in hospital for a long time.

The rescue boat also sank, she said, after rubbing repeatedly against the ferry. "The moment it moved away from the ship, it exploded, and we don't know how. It went down very fast as well, and we barely escaped from there too," Gökdaş said. She jumped into the sea a second time before hotel boats taking part in search and rescue operations reached the area and took her off.

Gökdaş said she was airlifted from Northern Cyprus to Turkey by ambulance plane because doctors there would not otherwise have allowed the trip due to the risk of early delivery. She was admitted to Umuttepe Hospital in Kocaeli, treated and later discharged, and stayed in Kocaeli until the birth. She delivered at term without a premature birth, she said.

Abandoning the name 'Deniz'

The baby was named Alara and was 19 days old and healthy when Gökdaş brought her to the TBMM. "We were thinking of naming our baby 'Deniz.' After the trauma we went through, we gave up on putting such a burden on a child, because the name would not remind us of anything good, so her name became 'Alara,'" Gökdaş said.

She said she could not properly grieve the ordeal because the birth was close. "I spent the time until the delivery lying down and resting. Then, thank God, I gave birth in good health," she said. The family is now raising the child, Gökdaş added.

Seatbelts, life jackets and the timing of the rescue

Gökdaş said the ferry rocked violently for about 10 minutes before sinking, comparing the motion to an amusement park ride. Being pregnant, she said, made her anxious as the vessel bounced along its route.

She tried to fasten a seatbelt for her youngest sibling, who was being tossed about because of her light weight, but the belts did not work. "It was a miracle that they didn't work. If I had managed to fasten the belt, we wouldn't have been able to save my sibling. We wouldn't even have had time to unbuckle it," Gökdaş said, adding that the ship filled with water in seconds.

Gökdaş said she believed there were not enough life jackets for everyone on board and that only three could be found near them. Her mother and father put those three on the children. After her mother and brother got out, a life jacket appeared in front of her. "I don't know if someone slipped out of it or threw it down to us, but the moment I grabbed it I put it around my father's neck. That is how my father survived; he had no life jacket either," she said.

Gökdaş also said rescue help arrived too late and that people were trapped inside the ship for a very long time. "I think everyone could have been saved," she said. When she was rescued there were many people on the top of the vessel, and she was told that everyone had got out. "I learned from the news when I was taken to hospital that nearly 30 people were missing," she said.

Family thanks deputy at parliament

Feride Akkaya, Gökdaş's mother and the grandmother of 19-day-old Alara, also came to the TBMM to thank MHP Kütahya Deputy Ahmet Erbaş. Akkaya noted that people had lost loved ones in the accident and said: "We are very sorry for them. But life goes on. We were a family of five, and we became six. My grandchild was also a victim of the accident. We thank Ahmet Bey as well. He stood by us in our bad times and supported us."

Key takeaways

• Menekşe Nur Akkaya Gökdaş survived a ferry sinking off Girne while eight months pregnant and has since given birth to a healthy daughter, Alara.
• The family abandoned its chosen name "Deniz" because the accident would have made the name a painful reminder.
• Gökdaş said she took a blow to the abdomen during the rescue, suffered internal bleeding and faced a risk of preterm delivery.
• She said rescue help came late and that she believes everyone on board could have been saved; she learned of the nearly 30 missing people from hospital news reports.