A child's prayers cut short by airstrikes: The four-year-old Syrian girl who has only ever known a life of war
Video report by ITV News Correspondent Dan Rivers
A four-year-old girl violently knocked down as shelling hits her home in the besieged town of Douma, near Damascus, epitomises the brutal reality of the Syrian war.
Mariah was so scared when she heard the noise of airstrikes last Friday, that her father encouraged her to recite prayers aloud to calm and distract her.
But as he was filming her, Mariah was thrown to the ground during the raid.
The terrifying moment was captured on camera.
Fortunately, the family survived the attack, and Mariah's father described the experience to ITV News and the impact it had on the family.
"I wanted to ease my terrified daughter by letting her say the prayers, and she looked happy, just in that moment the strike hit," he said.
"All the windows glasses were broken, and Mariah was terrified, I carried her and we escaped the house."
The family fled their home that day.
Describing the constant "terror which our children experience", Mariah's father, who has chosen to remain anonymous, said: "This happens on day and night, at night when shelling starts, my daughters wake up crying badly, we try to ease them and let them sleep again".
He also spoke of his fears his daughter will "carry very bad memories in life" because of the surrounding devastation.
"Mariah is only four-years-old, and she has known nothing but war, shelling, air strikes and fire.
Any child starts making his memories since he is born, she will carry very bad memories in her life."
Despite her recent ordeal, Mariah smiles happily like any other young child of her age.
But when asked by her father to wear her prayer scarf again, it quickly disappears and she refuses due to its connection with her "bad memories".
"This is what is going to be the normal type of life for our children, the fire, devastation, displacing from place to another," Mariah's father said as he reflected on the bleakness of their current situation.
"I would do any thing for my daughter, but I don't know how to protect her from this shelling, she is all my life."
The shelling on Mariah's home was part of airstrikes on the local marketplace of her home town by government forces, in which nine civilians are reported to have been killed.
In the last 10 days, the death toll in the district of East Ghoutah - where Douma is located - has reached 73, including 19 children and 10 women.
According to latest estimates by the Syrian Centre for Policy Research, more than 470,000 people have been killed since 2011.
The United Nations has warned of a critical situation for the people in the besieged city of Aleppo.
Russia has said it will work alongside government forces to launch "a large-scale humanitarian operation" to allow civilians and unarmed rebels to leave the city.