Organs of 9-year-old Yiğit, who died in an accident while going to watch his beloved Galatasaray for the first time, have been donated

Serkan Kurt and his 9-year-old son Yiğit Kurt, who set off from the Bodrum district of Muğla to travel to Istanbul to watch the Galatasaray-Tottenham match, were injured when their vehicle collided with a truck in the Susurluk district of Balıkesir.

The first to arrive at the scene of the accident were the security detail of Balıkesir Governor İsmail Ustaoğlu. Governor Ustaoğlu, who was on his way to an event, stopped his official vehicle at the scene upon seeing the major accident. The security detail attempted to assist the injured. While father Serkan Kurt was taken to Susurluk State Hospital, his son Yiğit was transferred to Balıkesir Atatürk City Hospital.

While fractures were detected in the father's neck area, 9-year-old Yiğit was declared brain dead after a days-long struggle for life. Making a difficult decision, the Kurt family decided to donate all of their 9-year-old son's organs.

Describing the moment of the accident, father Serkan Kurt said, "We set off from Bodrum to Istanbul with my 9-year-old son Yiğit Kurt on Thursday for the Galatasaray-Tottenham match. We didn't have the means. A few friends helped us, we decided to go to the match somehow, and we set off on Thursday morning. Three days before we left, my son made all his preparations; he put his jerseys and flags inside the car. I didn't know something like this would happen. Yiğit Kurt, my son, was 9 years old, he was a final-year primary school student. He was a die-hard Galatasaray fan. We set off and had a very major accident on the highway in Susurluk. I was taken to a different hospital and received treatment. My son was brought here to Balıkesir Atatürk City Hospital. They thought there was a problem with my spinal cord, and an MRI was taken. Meanwhile, my wife arrived and tried to be by both my son's and my side. However, my son had been in very bad condition since the day he arrived. Then they transferred me here by ambulance. Today, we learned that my son's brain death had occurred. We had great difficulty making a decision. When brain death occurs, the heart is still beating. You go to your child, you feel like he will wake up at any moment, like he will hug you, but it doesn't happen. We made a very difficult decision, we thought about it. Actually, the thinking part should be short. The doctors said there is no set time for the heart to stop after brain death, it could happen at any moment. So, together with his mother and older brother, we decided to donate our son's organs" he said.

Father Serkan Kurt also explained that Governor Ustaoğlu's security detail helped them after the accident, saying, "The security detail of a person I later learned was the Governor of Balıkesir helped us. May God bless them a thousand times, they took great care of us. They even called and asked after us while we were at the hospital. I don't know him personally, but thank you, may he accept our gratitude. He is a person with a father's heart. We thank him very much" he said.

Stating that he wants to experience the pain of his son with peace, Serkan Kurt continued his words as follows:

"I want to meet the child who will carry the heart of my son, my Yiğit. I definitely have no ulterior motive. I want to hug them, to love them like my son. As for the Galatasaray issue, as a father, I failed; I couldn't take my son to the stadium. Please come, be by our son's side on our final journey. He will feel it, I know this. My son was a very pure-hearted child. A month ago, he donated the money in his piggy bank to a child with SMA. Organ donation is truly very important. I am crying, we are crying, but other families will have a celebration. Perhaps at this very moment in this hospital, his organs are being harvested. I am both sad and happy. My son will live in another body. We have been here for 10 days. We are very broken, I want to experience my pain. I request from the Galatasaray Club, please be by our side on my son's final journey. He loved everyone very much. Especially Icardi, Mertens, Osimhen. My son asked me for an Osimhen mask, I couldn't buy it. 'Let's go to the stadium, I'll buy it from the GS Store,' I told my son. 'Okay dad, you'll buy it when you have money,' he said. Please be by our side, don't break my son's heart. If something like this happens, I will be grateful for a lifetime, I will be a servant for a lifetime."

The liver, kidneys, and heart of little Yiğit, who lost his life, will be transplanted to 4 children waiting for a transplant.

Mother Pınar Kurt said that her son will live in the bodies of many children. The mother said, "My son's heart will beat in them (the recipient), it will find life in them. My son will live in them. I will go and love those children, I want to love them like my own children. By loving them, I want to feel all of my son's organs. My son was a fanatical Galatasaray fan. He wanted to be either a footballer or an archaeologist. He was a very compassionate child. I want any footballer from Galatasaray to come to my son's funeral. Let them fulfill my son's last wish, as a mother, I am begging. My son couldn't see them, but please, let them come and see my son. As a mother, I am begging the entire Galatasaray community" she said.