Two victims of a serious bus crash in Antalya 10 days ago, when the vehicle plunged into a ravine after taking a dangerous curve at high speed, have recovered their amputated limbs after a complex 10-hour surgery, despite several doctors initially considering the operation unfeasible.
The accident, which killed ten people, occurred on 1 February and also left 24 people injured, several of them seriously, including Sedef Sarı – a woman whose leg was amputated and who also lost her son Seymen Çınar Sarı – and Yavuz Selim Yiğit, who lost an arm in the accident. The severed limbs were collected and preserved on ice by Turkish gendarmerie teams in the hope that they could be reattached later.
When all hope seemed lost, a relative had an idea
However, once both were admitted to Antalya City Hospital and their cases examined, doctors determined that reconstructive microsurgery to reattach the severed limbs was not possible. When all hope seemed lost, at that moment a relative of the injured woman, Vedat Sarı, had an idea and contacted the renowned Turkish surgeons Ömer Özkan and Özlenen Özkan, famous for performing Turkey’s first face transplant 14 years ago and who, years earlier, had reattached Vedat’s own arm and successfully reattached several amputated fingers on his daughter.
The two experts immediately responded to the request for help and brought both patients to the operating theatre. Dr Ömer Özkan led the operation to reattach Sarı’s leg, while Dr Özlenen Özkan performed the surgery to reattach Yığıt’s arm. Both operations were carried out simultaneously in adjacent operating theatres and lasted for almost 10 hours, during which bones, muscles, nerves and blood vessels were meticulously repaired using advanced microsurgical techniques.
Finally, after a long wait, the families of both victims received the good news: the operations successfully reattached Sarı’s amputated leg and Yiğit’s arm. After initial treatment in intensive care, Sarı and Yiğit were moved to a normal ward, where they were able to receive visits from both doctors and their families. Despite the delicate operation, the health condition of both patients is progressing favourably.
“The limbs were properly preserved, so we were able to reattach them“
In statements reported by Turkish media, Dr Özlenen Özkan stressed the importance of the correct handling and quick transfer of the amputated limbs: “They couldn’t find the arm and leg immediately, they found them later, but thanks to the fact that they were brought in properly, we were able to re-implant the arm and leg. It was a long operation. Two teams worked side by side in two rooms at the same time. Thank God, their condition is very good now, although the first week is always critical because of the risk of vascular blockages.”
Özkan stressed that what is essential for surgeons to succeed in reimplantation is that the limbs arrive early and well preserved: “Suturing these organs after 4-5 hours is detrimental to the patient; they should not be sutured. They have to arrive very quickly and in a cool environment, without direct contact with ice. They came to us in the right conditions, so our work was easier. We met with the families after the operation. They awaited our departure with great anticipation, and we were able to give them the good news. The patient whose leg we reattached had another relative (Vedat Sarı) whose amputated arm we had reattached in a motorbike accident years before. It was he who contacted us and who first informed us about the tragic accident. It is a really interesting coincidence,” said the Turkish doctor.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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