Organs of child who died 20 days after crash donated
THE organs of a boy who lost his fight for life nearly three weeks after being seriously injured in a crash have been donated to four people. The parents of Arda Okur, 12, decided to donate their son’s organs following his death on Wednesday morning. Arda had been in intensive care at Lefkoşa Dr Burhan Nalbantoğlu State Hospital since September 22. He had been sitting on the back seat of a BMW driven by his brother Eren Okur, 19, who had picked him up from school, when Eren “lost control” of the vehicle on the Ercan-İskele main road in wet conditions in front of the Tatlı Market in the village of Sınırüstü.
The rear end of the car collided with a lorry, driven by Zeynel Abidin Yılmaz, which was waiting at a junction on the road.
Police said at the time of the accident that Eren Okur, who escaped with just a broken right arm, had
been “speeding” and driving “carelessly”.
The funeral of Arda took place at the Boğaziçi village cemetery following afternoon prayers on Wednesday.
There was a large turnout for the funeral, during which his griefstricken family struggled to stand.
İskele Mayor Hasan Sadıkoğlu, who was among those in attendance, expressed his condolences to the family.
Imam İbrahim Yazıcı said while conducting the funeral service that he is alive “thanks to an organ donated by a woman” and stressed the importance of organ donation.