He survived the rubble, went missing during transfer: The painful truth emerged 4 years later! His mother found her son by having 18 graves opened

27 years have passed since the August 17, 1999 Marmara Earthquake, which had its epicenter in the Gölcük district of Kocaeli. The losses experienced after the earthquake and the struggles to find loved ones have not been forgotten.

70-year-old Emine Cebeci, who was trapped under the rubble with her son Serkan on the night of the earthquake, was rescued 16 hours later with injuries. Her son was pulled alive from the rubble 13 hours later and taken to the hospital. However, after being transferred to the hospital, Serkan was never heard from again.

Cebeci received treatment in hospitals for a year and underwent 14 surgeries. After her treatment, Cebeci began to trace her son, traveling to police stations, hospitals, and morgues in different cities across Turkey for 4 years. As a result of her legal struggle, she managed to have 18 graves opened and reached her son's remains in one of them.

"1999 WAS LIKE A B.C. AND A.D. FOR US"

Describing what she went through on the night of the earthquake, Emine Cebeci said, "They say, 'B.C. and A.D.' It was like that for us too. We had a life before 1999, and we returned to a different life after 1999. We were at home with my son that night. It was a very hot August. This heat always scares me anyway. It was another bad, hot night like this. My son had passed the exam for non-commissioned officer training. 'I'll go to bed early tonight, I'll take my reports to the military tomorrow morning,' he said.

I was watching television. At that moment, a huge roar broke out. It was such a loud roar that I couldn't even think it was an earthquake. For a moment, I thought a train was passing under the house. It was such a violent tremor. I jumped up suddenly. I thought I would run to my son so he wouldn't be scared. Unfortunately, I could only take three steps, I couldn't take the fourth. You know they said it 'lasted 45 seconds,' we were one of the houses that collapsed in the first 10 seconds," she said.

"IT WAS SUCH A TREMOR THAT WE COLLAPSED WHILE SPINNING"

Stating that they lived on the first floor and there were 5 floors above their building, Cebeci described the intensity of the earthquake with these words:

"Our house collapsed while hitting left and right, spinning us around. It was such a tremor that we collapsed while spinning. I fell face down. All the stairs had collapsed and come next to me. Only my chin was on the ground. My head wouldn't move. The concrete was touching my head but not crushing it. My legs and arm were under a column. Time passed. I called out to my son to hear his voice. I couldn't get any sound from him. 'Oh no,' I said, 'My son must have died.' I was trying not to lose my mind, even though I had fallen face down.

I didn't think it was an earthquake. I said, 'Our building collapsed.' I thought someone from the coast would see it, notice the building had collapsed, and someone would come to help. But for an hour or two, there was no sound from anyone. Neither from the coast nor from outside. An hour or two later, I heard my son's voice. 'Mom, I'm fine. Just my foot is crushed,' he said. 'Okay my son, hold on. Those returning from the coast will see us and rescue us,' I said."

"MY SON SAID, 'THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO RESCUE US, THERE IS NO ONE'"

Stating that they talked to her son under the rubble until morning, Cebeci said, "Finally, my son said, 'They won't be able to rescue us, there is no one.' He said, 'Forgive me' (Hakkınızı helal edin). 'No my son, don't say that. We will definitely be rescued. You try hard,' I said. My son was thinking about saying his final goodbyes, but I couldn't think of that at that moment. I was trying to give him courage. People started coming and going in between for hours. Those who saw the rubble tried to rush to help. We hear the neighbors' voices, but they can't hear ours.

Under the rubble, you hear everything, but they can't hear you. There are very big mistakes made in the rubble. So many people climb on top of it that the concrete keeps shifting. Healthy people start getting crushed below. No one died there in the first moment. Sometimes you want to die, but you can't. You enter a grave alive, but you are helpless, there is nothing you can do. I had forgotten myself while trying to console my son," she expressed.

"THANK GOD. THEY FOUND MY SON, IT WOULD BE OKAY IF THEY DIDN'T FIND ME"

Stating that her son was pulled alive from the rubble about 13 hours after the earthquake, Cebeci spoke as follows:

"Thank God. 'They found my son, it would be okay if they didn't find me,' I was saying. I only thought our building had collapsed. Whereas an earthquake had happened, everywhere was leveled to the ground. Later, they pulled my son out. They also pulled our dog out with him. Our dog was alive. They pulled him out with my son. My son was saying, 'I won't go, rescue my mother. My mother is alive down there.'

Later, my closest friend forcibly convinced my son and took him to the Gölcük Military Hospital. I was always grateful. I thought, 'My son left, he was saved. It's okay if I'm not saved.' Around 16:00, they pulled me out too, three hours after my son. When I came out, I was in very bad shape. Everyone says this. 'Serkan was very good, we didn't even think you would reach the hospital,' they were saying."

"I WAS GOING TO SEARCH WHERE I LOST MY SON"

Saying that she saw the surroundings were largely destroyed after being pulled from the rubble, Cebeci stated that she started searching for her son after the treatment process:

"Gölcük was practically leveled to the ground. I was only asking about my son. I stayed in hospitals for a year, I had surgery constantly. I underwent 14 surgeries on my leg. 'I will find Serkan,' I said. I was going to search where I lost him. When I came to Gölcük, I looked and saw that there were photos of missing people on the walls. There were a lot of missing people. I went to the military. The military told me, 'We buried 18 unidentified people, but we have their pictures.' I looked at the pictures, my son wasn't there. Still, I said, 'Look, there are many missing people. One of these missing people could come out of that cemetery. I want those 18 graves to be opened.' Because whoever we find, it is peace for a mother."

"MY SON CAME OUT OF ONE OF THOSE GRAVES"

Stating that they started a legal process with the families of the missing, Cebeci said, "My court process lasted 4 years. I fought to have the graves opened. The process wouldn't move forward without paying money to the court anyway. Later, the cases of all the missing families were canceled. Only mine continued. I applied to the higher court again. You've experienced the earthquake, you're screaming, but no one asks about you. Finally, the graves were opened. I wanted 18 graves to be opened.

I didn't have them opened so my son would come out, but for other missing people to be found, but my son came out of one of those graves. 4 years later. In these 4 years, I didn't leave a place in Turkey I didn't go to. These things don't happen with such a small search. Every day, I traveled around Turkey with the pictures of the missing on my back. I found my son's grave, but you still think, 'What if it was someone who looked like my son?' Finding him 4 years later is not an easy thing. Everyone took their deceased, accepted it. Mine was very difficult. Because I had sent my child away alive, and I was looking for him everywhere as if he were alive. You don't even think about him dying," she said.

"I TRAVELED STREET BY STREET FOR YEARS"

Cebeci described the search she continued for years to find her son with these words:

"I didn't close my door for 4 years, thinking, 'News will come from my child, I will hear a voice.' I traveled street by street for years. I looked inside every car. I thought, 'Could my child have lost his memory somewhere and be wandering around?' I went to Bakırköy, I searched the mental hospitals. Until I found my son, until those graves were opened, there was no program, newspaper, or news I didn't call. I even sent his photo abroad. I hoped, 'Maybe someone will see him, a voice will come from somewhere.'"

News Source: 12punto