Year in Review, January: Remembering the Turkish earthquake tragedy

Every day is different for Ergin Kucuk since his life changed on February 6, 2023, when two devastating earthquakes destroyed his home in Türkiye.

Ergin lost his parents, Ali and Doni, along with his sister Hanim and her husband, Ali, in the devastation that claimed more than 55,000 lives in Türkiye. Ergin is from the town of Bustan in the Kahramanmaraş region but has lived in Tralee for more than 30 years.

His wife, Rachel, and daughter, Sinise, served as the cornerstones after his nightmarish ordeal. When Ergen first returned to Kerry after the earthquake, the first few months were difficult. He could not sleep at night and would sometimes wake up screaming, as sleep brought him back to a scenario that most of us would find difficult to imagine, let alone experience.

Talking to family and being busy while working at The Rose Hotel helped distract Ergin and slowly rebuild his life. As the first anniversary of the earthquake approaches, he feels it necessary to speak up and express his eternal gratitude to those who supported him.

“Some days I'm at the bottom, other days I'm at the top. What happened was shocking to all of us,” he says.

“I have my wife and my daughter, who are my pillar. We talk a lot, every day in fact. They are strong women who have helped me a lot; they are always by my side. When I have them, I have everything. I think it would be worse if I was alone. I would go so far as to say it would be a disaster “.

First, Ergen saw on television in Tralee the devastation that occurred last February. This was the hardest and most anxious time because all he could do was call home. But with calls going unanswered, he began to fear the worst. To make matters worse, he spoke to his parents after the first earthquake. Less than 30 minutes later, they were both killed.

“I often think my daughter has to answer that question because she was upstairs while their phones were ringing and ringing. I would growl and scream with anxiety. I kept saying, ‘Come on, Dad, Mom, please answer the phone.’” But the phones stopped working.”

“I was talking to my mom half an hour before she died. She said they were all fine and it was like hell. She told me the house was shaking so hard that she thought she was going to die. I told her to get away from the house, to leave it. It was so cold and it was freezing, It was 6 and 7 degrees below zero. My mom had a hip replacement and back surgery, so maybe the cold was too much for her. I think that's what forced her to come home again.

“My father was at my brother’s house and he wasn’t answering his phone. I called my sister-in-law and she told me that my father was with her. I spoke to my father and asked them to stay away from the house. My father returned to my mother, and that’s when it happened. I think the cold forced “A lot of people had to go home to die that day.”

Leaving Tralee for Türkiye was Ergin's first reaction. His daughter booked a flight to Istanbul, where Ergin met his sister. All airports near Elbestan are closed, the closest being Sivas Airport which is about 600 kilometers away from where you need to be. They took a taxi from Sivas to Al-Bustan, a terrifying journey in which the buildings and landmarks they knew in their childhood were completely destroyed.

“The roads were terrible and I remember we kept telling the driver to hurry up. When we got there, I couldn't recognize him. It was like a horror and war movie. Like Hiroshima, it was just like that.”

“It was all on the ground, absolutely everything. My town has a population of about 140,000, is small and mostly apartments. It usually only takes 15 minutes to drive from one end of town to the other. That day, it took us nearly Two hours to arrive. “Every road was blocked by rubble,” he says.

At this point, Ergin was hoping against hope that his family was still alive. Only his father's phone was still ringing three days after the earthquake. Unfortunately, this was a sign that the worst was to come. Ergin's younger sister began to panic as she searched for her parents under the rubble. Ergin felt that under these circumstances, he needed to stay strong and keep things together.

“There's always a feeling in tragedies that one family member has to be strong to keep the family together, and I was that person. My older sister was more calm, but my younger sister, because she was so close to my mother — she's the youngest and our child — she panicked a lot. I can explain it, it was very heartbreaking.

“When we first arrived we were hoping and praying that they were alive. We searched through the rubble. Then, on Wednesday evening, around 9:30 or 10 a.m., we found my mother and father. They were dead. We had only just arrived there when we found them. My parents were living On the fourth floor of a five-story building when it collapsed, so it was easier to find them. The police and guards were warning us not to enter the buildings because a lot of people were being killed while searching for their families and it was difficult to listen to them and take them With their advice.”

When Ergin and his brothers pulled their parents out of the rubble, they immediately brought them to a nearby morgue. The scene that awaited them was one of utter devastation, as the morgue was unable to handle the constant number of bodies being brought there.

“The morgue was full. We were there until five in the morning and bodies kept coming and going. Just for the first two days, it looked like an army of ants with the way the line stretched back as the bodies were brought in.”

The next day, Ali and Doni were buried in the village in the presence of about 30 people. This brought comfort to the family as they had a grave to pay their respects. Ergin feels that having a focal point for grief is better than none at all.

“It was a comfort to me because not many bodies have been found yet. I often imagine what it would have been like if we had not found them, it would have been a disaster. We would not have dealt with that. It would have been too much,” Ergin says. “.

Two days later, with no time to grieve for their parents, Ergin and his family's focus turned to finding their sister Hanem and her husband, Ali. Hanem's house was a short distance away and also collapsed. Ergin feels they never had a chance to survive as they were staying between two floors when the building fell. A café located below the building was full of twenty people, who were also killed.

“There was a lot of help to try to save her but it was impossible. Until Friday, we were hearing voices among the rubble. We were told: ‘Yes, there are voices, but it might not be your sister.’ We knew there were other people in the building but we just wanted to save her. We were searching and pulling every bit of rubble out there.

“I was shouting at the half-standing building: ‘Can you hear me? Please make noise.’ I had a stone and I was rubbing it on the rubble, saying: ‘If you can hear me, please bring a stone and make noise, rub it on a stone.’” We could only hear one noise. Until Friday around 12am and then the noise stopped. It was one of the worst experiences I have ever had and in the end we found Hanim and her husband holding each other So we buried them together in the village.”

As Ergin continues to deal with the loss of his family, broader rescue efforts have become a focus of great concern for him and his brother. They could not bring themselves to leave the house knowing that others needed help. Professional rescue teams from all over the world have traveled to Türkiye but have not yet reached Al Bustan. Up to that point, locals had intensified their efforts as Ergin snatched a few hours of sleep in the car between searches for survivors.

“Food and water arrived quickly. The main water supply was frozen and the biggest problem was that people had no toilets and sanitation was difficult. People were making fires outside and sleeping under the sky in the street. But they only slept for an hour before they got up to search again.” Others, hoping to find families.

A year after the tragedy, Ergin says thousands of people in Türkiye need psychological support after witnessing unimaginable horror. From nurses and doctors to ordinary citizens, the psychological pain caused by earthquakes is indefinable and needs to be addressed.

“I saw a nurse lying on the floor, she was waking up every two seconds in distress. Mentally, not everyone is strong. A lot of people will suffer if they don't get help and it will take time to get over it. I've been offered support but honestly I feel like I don't need it. I sit And talking to my wife and daughter, he says, “I'm a person who talks, and I don't store things. “Most people will listen so people need to talk.”

Ergin becomes emotional as he recalls the few bright moments that rose from the depths of despair. He feels lucky to have seen survivors emerge from the rubble, something that still gives him great joy.

“I saw people come out alive when I didn't think I would. I saw a family get out of the elevator, and an old man get out of the wreckage. It made me happy and it still makes me happy. 'One life is one life,'” he says.

“But I also saw a family that was burned alive and families where only one person survived and the rest were all killed. I had a cousin who went back into a building to save his wife, got her out and went back in. The building collapsed and he was killed. She died four weeks later in the hospital,” he says. All these things are still with me.”

While trying to rescue people, Ergin recalls, aftershocks were a constant danger. He describes the fear of standing on piles of rubble and construction and suddenly feeling the sensation of movement beneath him.

“The pruners were constantly coming and going. You couldn't stay for long in the same place or go down too deep because the danger of collapsing on you was always there. People were warned not to do that, but they wanted to save the family. I think Spanish researchers were the first to reach Elbastan. Until then, locals were doing it themselves.

Throughout Ergen's time in Türkiye, Rachel would phone him from Tralee to tell him that people were passing on messages of support. Ergin still feels emotional about this and feels lucky that he “owns two houses.” While the orchard lay in ruins, people in Tralee reached out to it with love and warmth.

“My workplace was great, they called me all the time. My phone was so busy. The support I got from Tralee made me so proud. I remember saying one day while I was in Turkey: 'Thank God I came to Ireland all those years ago.' People supported me and it was great when I came home afterwards, I was afraid to come into the city and talk to people I just said I had to be strong and face it.

“Irish people are special people, and they make me proud. They shared my pain and that kept me going when I felt like I couldn't. I still cry in the street when people stop and hug me. It makes me feel good. I just wish I could thank everyone individually for their support.”

“This is my home, the home that has made me stronger. There are so many good people here. The people of Tralee and the people of Kerry are the best in the world, even in wider Ireland. People in Turkey at that time were talking about Ireland and its generosity.

Ergin plans to return home in the summer and do some work on his parents' grave. The city of Al-Bustan is gone, and it will take years to rebuild. The majority of its citizens live temporarily in containers as reclamation work continues. One piece of advice Ergen is keen to share after his ordeal is parental appreciation.

“My parents loved Christmas Day and New Year's Day. My mom loved the way it brought the family together. She would love to call me at Christmas to ask if I made the turkey. This was the first year we didn't get that call.” She came to Kerry one Christmas, I think in 2008 when it snowed, and told me it was too cold and she wouldn't come again,” he says with a smile.

“What I would tell people is to appreciate your mother and father while they are alive, they are your gods. Cherish them and take care of them. Your parents are everything. You understand these things better when you are dead.”

“I have to be strong but internal things are different,” Ergin concludes. “We have one daughter and we have to live for her. My brothers and sisters also have to live for their children, life goes on no matter what.”

“I think my parents wanted me to be strong because they were strong people. They always told me: ‘You only live once.’ As for people who survived things like tsunamis and wars, I think I understand them much better now. I know how they feel and why.” “They're sad. These are not easy things to experience in life.”

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos