'The world has forgotten us'

29.07.2015 15:32

He caught the world's attention when he was pulled alive from the rubble after 22 hours trapped under the rubble and put into his desperate mother's arms.

Rasmila Awal told of her 'overwhelming joy' at being reunited with her little boy Sonit after he was entombed under a pile of bricks and debris when the quake hit.

She had searched frantically, pulling away bricks with her bare hands as she could hear her little boy's muffled cries under the bricks.

In the immediate aftermath of the disaster Rasmila told how she was inundated with offers of help and support.

But Sonit's mother now believes they have been forgotten about just months after pictures of his miraculous escape captured the attention of the world.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Rasmila said: ‘Since the earthquake times have been so difficult. Yes, we are alive, but we have no house, no work and no money to buy food.'

Rosmila told how Sonit was asleep in a cot in the family home in Bharktapur, Nepal, when the deadly 7.8 magnitude quake struck on April 25.

Rasmila had popped to the shop to buy some food while Sonit's sister Soniya, 10, looked after her brother in the house.

'When the earthquake happened the first thing on my mind was the children that I had to rescue both of them,' she said.

She rushed back to the spot where her house once was and could hear Sonit's muffled cries beneath the rubble.

His life had been saved by a metal chair that had fallen fallen over his cot, shielding him from falling bricks, and he was pulled from the debris almost unharmed. Soniya had also been rescued.

'I could think of nothing else but trying to save my baby,' Rasmila said. 'I was very sad. I did not eat. I did not sleep. I could hear him crying from the ruins of our home.

'People thought my baby was already dead. I still hoped he was alive and had not lost hope because I had not yet seen him or his body.

'When he finally came up I wanted to hold him and I almost couldn’t wait.

‘The first thing I said when he was free of the rubble was his nickname - Babu - which means little boy, and when he heard that he was smiling.

'At that moment I knew he was alive and alright. I will call him Babu for the rest of his life now because of that.

'They took him and me to the hospital and it took three hours at the hospital before we was finally reunited.

(Daily Mail)