Five-hour search for survivor
‘‘He had tears because he is happy I’m alive. I can never forget that moment.’’ Temel Atacocogu
As soon as Kasim Canli heard people had been shot at a Christchurch mosque on March 15 last year, he closed his kebab shop and headed straight to the hospital to look for his friend.
He knew his mate and business partner Temel Atacocogu would have been at the Al Noor mosque for Friday prayers.
He also knew that something was wrong when his friend didn’t answer the phone.
‘‘The minute I hear it happened, I shut the shop and gone,’’ Canli said.
‘‘I phoned the police and hospital. I went to the information centre.
‘‘I give name and email and pictures. Is he alive or not?
‘‘They didn’t know anything. There were too many people everywhere. It was very busy.’’
He feared the worst for his friend, but had a sliver of hope.
‘‘I feel like I saw him on the TV going into an ambulance. I saw him then. I have a little hope there, because I was sure it was him.’’
After searching for five hours, he finally found his friend. Atacocugu had been shot nine times in the face, arms and legs, but was still alive.
‘‘He had been in surgery and was just in recovery.
‘‘I got 10 years older in that five hours.’’
Pointing to his grey hair, he joked: ‘‘Look at my hair. That was in five hours.’’
In the fourth episode of the Nine Bullets video series, we learn about the struggles of Atacocugu’s kebab shop following the attacks, the deepening bond with his business partner and see his encounter with John Campbell on live television.
In the days after the shooting, Canli would work all day at the kebab shop they run together in the EntX building in central Christchurch, then head to the hospital to be by his friend’s side through the night.
He would sleep on the floor of Temel’s hospital ward.
When Atacocugu came round from his operations, his friend was at his side.
Atacocugu remembers the moment vividly.
‘‘He had tears because he is happy I’m alive. I can never forget that moment.’’
‘‘I couldn’t believe I was alive. When I saw him I asked, ‘Am I alive?’ And he said ‘You have made it mate. You are alive.’
‘‘It is incredible. I can never forget that.’’
Canli has cancelled a planned trip to Turkey to see his mother because he has to run the kebab shop while his friend recovers.
‘‘He has too many surgeries lined up. They are still going to fix his mouth and arm.
‘‘I don’t know, they are always fixing something. And his arm doesn’t work.
‘‘It is very hard on me. I was supposed to be home this year. But I can’t go now. I was supposed to go and see my mum.’’
But Atacocugu is eternally grateful for how his friend responded and how he has helped him since.
‘‘I can never repay what he did for me. It is priceless what he did for me.
‘‘Before that we had a good relationship, but after that we are like brothers.’’