Stranded mother reunited with baby in Dubai
Robyn BakerA mother who was stranded in Egypt while her baby remained in Dubai has spoken of her relief at being reunited with her daughter.
Jersey-born Robyn Baker moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2022 but had travelled to Egypt for a three-day work trip before conflict engulfed the region.
When the airspace around Dubai closed, she was trapped in Egypt with no idea when she would be able to return home.
"The hardest part is I sleep with the baby monitor on when I'm travelling... I expect to be woken up to the sound of her crying and needing her nappy changed... but I'm being woken up by the sound of missiles... and I'm not there."
Following days of cancelled and rescheduled flights, Ms Baker returned to Dubai on Wednesday afternoon.
"It was only when I got on the plane and they took off, it sunk in that I was still in for a chance of getting home. However, I still wasn't convinced," she said.
"I couldn't look out of the window. I booked an aisle seat for that reason. I was shaking. I didn't want to know where we were and what countries we were flying over."
"So that feeling of the unknown was very, very scary. But again, the excitement of getting closer and closer to my daughter got me through it for sure."
Ms Baker said the moment she was reunited with her daughter "didn't feel real".
"The feeling of knocking on the door and opening it and her walking up to me, I can't even explain it. It's something that will stay with me forever. I just held her so tight and all of a sudden, as soon as I had her in my arms, I felt complete. I felt whole."
Having returned home, she said she felt safe in Dubai for the time being.
"It's been very calm since I've arrived, I don't feel the need to leave in an urgent rush," Ms Baker said.
"A lot of people are going about their daily lives normally being very positive. There is just a sense of the unknown, like nobody knows how this is going to go, if it's going to continue to get better and calmer, or if it escalates.
"But of course, if it does escalate I would look at my options and reconsider whether or not this is somewhere I will continue to live. But for now, it's my home and I do feel safe now that I'm here."
Follow BBC Jersey on X and Facebook. Send your story ideas to channel.islands@bbc.co.uk.
