ROCHESTER, N.Y. — On Feb. 6, 2023, the highest magnitude earthquake since 1939 hit Turkey and Syria, according to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy. 

Busra Gol is happy her 2- and 3-year-old children made it back home to New York after surviving the natural disasters. 

What You Need To Know

  • It's been more thana year since earthquakes hit Turkey and Syria, and killed more than 56,000 people, according to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy

  • The Gol family was in Turkey staying with family on the 13th floor when the earthquakes happened

  • The four of them survived, but lost much of their family and are still living with the trauma

  • Busra returned to Rochester and is struggling to raise her 2- and 3-year-olds alone after everything they've been through
  • Her husband remains overseas waiting for his green card

“It’s been tough for the kids,” Gol explained. “It’s been a year and they’re still cleaning and like, even my husband’s like it’s pretty much the same. He’s like, they’re still knocking down buildings, you know, they’re still cleaning up.” 

Gol and her two children, Alina and Mirac, are all United States citizens, so they returned to family in Rochester once the earthquakes struck. However, that meant moving away from the ones they love: their husband and father, Ali, needed to stay to wait for his green card. 

“It’s rough on him too, cause, like we’re here and he’s unfortunately, he’s still over there,” Gol said, “The kids' mental health was at risk and my mental health was not ... and I didn’t notice how bad it was until I came here, and I really noticed like it was really bad. I’m getting better, but I still need more time.” 

Gol is still working on her own self-recovery. 

“My thing is to like, talk about it, without crying, so clearly I’m not at the stage yet, but I think I’m getting there eventually. I think with the year going up, like it’s more, just bringing back,” she explained. 

The memories have been difficult for survivors to live with. 

“Image we’re laying on the floor and my husband, he’s like 230 [lbs.], on top of us, and we’re rolling from like one wall to the other,” Gol explained. “You just accept your fate. If we’re going to live through this, we’re going to live. If we’re going to die, we’re going to die.”

While Gol works on her own ways of coping, she also fears for her children’s ability to deal with their trauma. 

“She remembers when she looks around, she goes, 'there’s no broken homes here. Everything’s nice here,'" Gol said.

Gol said referring to her daughter. Gol also fears her youngest trauma may be more difficult to recover from. 

“My son ... he can’t talk ... so he has speech therapy and they’re thinking that he might need O.T. and he has a special ed teacher," she said.

It’s a little help, but she hopes it can go a long way. 

“I feel like everyone that went through it needs to talk to someone because it wasn’t something simple," she said. “I think of it, you know, maybe God has given us another chance to turn things around.”