Seriously ill Syrians in the country's last rebel bastion of Idlib used to be able to access life-saving care across the border.
But the main crossing there for medical visits slammed shut after a deadly earthquake ravaged southern Turkey on February 6, prompting Ankara to prioritise its domestic needs.
Born just a week before the disaster, baby Islam needs urgent cardiac surgery, unavailable in Syria's war-scarred Idlib region where the healthcare system fell into further disarray after the quake.
"I watch my daughter suffer and I can't do anything about it," said Umm Khaled, showing only her eyes and hands beneath her black niqab.
The 27-year-old said her baby was losing weight and her condition worsening.
Islam often struggles to breathe, and a doctor has warned that repeated such episodes, which put further strain on her heart, could be deadly without an operation or treatment. But only cancer patients have been allowed to cross into Turkey after months of waiting -- and only since Monday.
"When she cries, she turns blue and her heart beats very fast," Umm Khaled said, as her three other young children sat on the ground in their tent in the village of Halzoun.
"I hope they'll open the crossing soon," she said, baby Islam squirming in her lap.
Treatment 'unavailable'
Doctors in Idlib refer most heart and cancer patients to Turkey, where they can receive free treatment under an agreement between local authorities and Ankara. Burns victims, premature babies and people requiring complicated surgery have also been allowed to cross.
But after the quake-ravaged health facilities on the Turkish side of the border, Ankara halted medical visits through the Bab al-Hawa crossing -- the sole access point for patients from Idlib.
The border has remained open for United Nations humanitarian aid, goods and even Syrians visiting relatives in the area.