Gift of the Givers
SAPS sniffer dogs on a rescue mission with Gift of the Givers in earthquake-ravaged Turkey helped find an elderly person alive buried under the rubble for several days.
Founder, Dr Imtiaaz Sooliman, was full of praise for the team following Monday's 'breakthrough' in Hatay, after the Gift of the Givers team arrived in Turkey last week following an appeal for international assistance.
Six SAPS dog handlers and five dogs joined the Gift of the Givers mission and includes Brigagider Vimla Moodley of SAPS in the Eastern Cape.
The death toll from the 7.8 magnitude quake which hit Turkey and Syria is over 30 000.
In a statement, Sooliman said search and rescue operations require a collaborative effort, grit, and determination, as well as resilience. But, above all, he says you also need sniffer dogs.
Five dogs and six SAPS dog handlers, including from the Eastern Cape, joined the Gift of the Givers mission.
"By bringing in SAPS sniffer dogs, Gift of the Givers, together with the Omani team, located a live elderly person in the rubble in Hatay," Dr Sooliman said.
"The person has been recovered and sent by ambulance to the hospital. Congratulations to the team for pulling out somebody alive several days after the earthquake," he said.
Sooliman said Gift of the Givers had a similar experience during the 2010 Haiti earthquake when a 64-year-old person was pulled out of the rubble eight days after the devastating quake.
"When we work together as a common humanity, for the purpose of human beings, there is always a success," he said.
