Özlem Kara, who lost her husband and 3 children in the disaster of the century and became paralyzed as a result of a column falling on her legs, started to walk again, motivated by her daughter’s words, “Mom, stand on your feet no matter what”, 3 days before the earthquake.
40-year-old Özlem Kara, who lost her husband and 3 children in the rubble in İslahiye district of Gaziantep in the February 6 earthquake, was paralyzed when a column fell on her legs. After 6 months of bedridden life, Kara started physical therapy thanks to her promise to her deceased daughter. Kara said, “3 days before the earthquake, my daughter told me, ‘Mom, learn to stand on your own feet and take care of yourself,’ which increased my determination to walk.”
“I can now walk without support”
Describing the moment of the earthquake, Kara said, “It has been a year since the earthquake. I woke up to the screams of the children. I don’t remember what happened. When I woke up, everything had happened. A column fell below my waist and I became paralyzed. I have been receiving physical therapy for a year. But I was bedridden during this period. I could never stand up. But now I can walk without support. Still, I have fears outside.”
“Thanks to physical therapy, I can walk without support”
Stating that the treatment process was positive, Kara said, “Physical therapy was very good for me. Thanks to physical therapy, I can walk without support. The first 6 months were very difficult for me. There were treatments such as surgeries and dialysis. It is very difficult to be dependent on a person’s hand. I always wanted to get better in this process. I lost my husband and 3 children, so the process was difficult for me. But thanks to physical therapy, I started walking again.”
“I took strength from this advice of my daughter”
Stating that she started walking again thanks to her promise to her daughter, Kara said, “It was my daughter’s birthday on February 3rd. My daughter told me, ‘Mom, learn to stand on your own feet and take care of yourself’. I took strength from this advice of my daughter. In order to keep my promise to my daughter, I managed to walk by persevering despite being paralyzed. Thanks to the advice my daughter gave me, I started to stand on my feet again.”
“The process after starting treatment progressed in a very good direction”
Providing information about Kara’s treatment process, Physiotherapist İbrahim Halil Kılıç said, “Ms. Özlem applied to many places before coming to us but could not find a solution. She could not walk when she came to us. The process after starting the treatment progressed in a very good direction. Ms. Özlem’s promise to her daughter was an important factor. We did the treatment we could so that Ms. Özlem could keep her promise to her daughter. We tried to convince her that she would get better by constantly doing exercises and we were successful. When Ms. Özlem started to walk, she went to Umrah. We were also very happy that Ms. Özlem started walking again,” he said.
