Turkish Woman for 4 Years Has Been Nursing the Russian Guy Who Lost Memory in Traffic Accident

Gulsum Gabadayi for four years has been nursing a tourist from Russia, who in 2008 was hit by a car near Antalya.

The young man, found by police on the road, had multiple bone fractures and severe head injury. As it turned out, he was first hit by a bus, and later overrun by another car.

In the critical condition the man was brought to the Akdeniz University Hospital in Antalya. For about one year the doctors were “restoring” him piece by piece.

- The guy did not have any documents, and no one knew where he was from. All this time the local woman Gulsum Gabadayi was taking care of him and later took him to her home, – says the chairman of the Russian community in Antalya Marina Sorokina. – She called him Umut, which in Turkish means “hope”.

Umut (nobody knows the guy’s real name) survived, but the accident left him disabled – he is confined to bed and cannot speak.

- Upon hearing the Russian speech, Umut started crying the tears of joy, – said the family’s close friend, Saida Kaya. – It became clear that he understood the Russian words.

- After that the professional teachers of Russian language were invited to meet Umut, and they confirmed that Russian was his native language!

The information about Umut was immediately sent to Interpol and the Russian Consulate in Antalya. But for the past few months there has been no good news either from police or Russian diplomats.

Gulsum Gabadayi who gave shelter to the helpless guy made a promise to find his birth family at all costs.

- I’ve been watching after him as a little child for 4 years, and I want him to meet his own family again. As much as I feel pain thinking of the possibility to part with him, I understand that meeting his birth mother will encourage him, – said Gulsum. – But no one can take care of him as I do, and I’ll give him to someone, only if I am sure that he will be safe. I’ll put son on his feet. I hope that one day I will hear his voice.

Physicians say that now Umut’s development is similar to a two-year old child. But day by day, the foster family tries to brighten his life.

As Gulsum herself recalls, at the time when almost dead man was brought to the hospital “Akdeniz”, she was taking care of her sick relative in the same medical facility. And from the first day of Umut’s arrival she started nursing him as well.

- He had spent about a year in intensive care, in that time I became his arms and legs. – continues Gulsum. – When the time came to discharge him from the hospital, my younger son said that we should take our brother home.

The 14-year-old Alikhan, the youngest of Gulsum’s three sons, was the first to propose shelter for the poor guy. Since then Umut became their brother – the eldest and at the same time the youngest child in the family.

- We really love him. When there is a wedding in Turkey, people traditionally throw sweets. I collect all the goodies and bring them to brother. – says Alikhan. – We try to give him the best. He even began smiling.

While Umut can only smile and wink, the doctors notice more and more changes for better in his condition. The young man started recovering his muscles and now he is able to eat on his own.

Authorities of Turkey learned about this story and made some concessions to quicken the process of acquiring the Turkish citizenship and gave him the full name – Mustafa Oz Umut. The citizenship allowed the Russian tourist to continue receiving the medical treatment for free.

After learning that Umut knows Russian words and is already responding to DA (yes) and NET (no), the guests from Russia started visiting Gulsum’s hospitable house.

- The Russian-speaking community in Turkey is following the fate of Umut. We ask everyone to take a close look at the photograph – maybe someone you know lost their relative in Turkey 4 years ago, – appeals the volunteer Saida Kaya. – We often visit him. When we talk with Umut in Russian, he is constantly blinking and smiling. Such strong response he has only for the Russian language!