Rescued from quake debris, 19-year-old boy asks for test prep books first

By Ayse Yildiz

ANTALYA, Türkiye (AA) – Gurkan Ozturk, a 19-year-old boy who was pulled out from the rubble of southern Türkiye earthquakes, asked for his test books right after his rescue, as a video showing his chat with an medical personnel went viral on the internet.

Ozturk was rescued from the debris of a collapsed building in the Antakya district of Hatay province, which is heavily hit by Monday’s massive earthquakes.

The quake survivor was lying on the ambulance bed when he told the medical personnel that “everything collapsed and I thought we are ruined because there are only five months left to the YKS,” referring to the Turkish university entrance exam.

“I feel so sad that all my books are gone. Also, all my clothes, forget about them, but I only need my books,” he said.

The emergency staff said to him: “Just tell me which books you want and I will pile all of them up here.”

Ozturk replayed “I am sending you a half-heart,” making a half heart shape with his right hand, and listed the names of the books he needs to study for the exam.

The emergency staff said: “Dear friends, I am announcing that 19-year-old Gurkan, who broke a record for surviving under the rubble, is preparing for the university entrance exam. He seeks support to get test prep books.”

Another emergency staff who was recording the video asked Ozturk: “When will you start studying?”

“As soon as I am discharged, there is not much time left for the exam,” the young boy replied.

The magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 earthquakes, centered in Kahramanmaras, affected more than 13 million people across 10 provinces, also including Hatay, Gaziantep, Adana, Adiyaman, Diyarbakir, Kilis, Malatya, Osmaniye, and Sanliurfa.

Several countries in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, felt the strong tremors that struck Türkiye in the space of fewer than 10 hours.​​​​​​