'Horse Ambulance' Saves Snow-Bound Mother of 9 in Erzurum

türkçe links to original Turkish article

(Hürriyet Newspaper, 6 January 2020)


Songül hanım's prince on a white horse comes to the rescue!


Songül Yılmaz (41), the mother of 9 children (!), lives in Çilligöl
village, 30 kilometers from the district center Hinis in Erzurum
province.  The night before last Songül hanım became ill with a
bleeding uterus and stomach pains.  Health officials were notified but
the road to the village was blocked by snow.

The health rescue team's ambulance made it as far as 7 kilometers
from Çilligöl before the snow prevented the vechile from moving
further.  A snow-plow was summoned but it got stuck in the snow,
too.  So local residents responded by offering paramedic Yunus
Yavuz a horse, which Yavuz rode to rescue Songül hanım.


 "Dancing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh..."

Yavuz treated Songül hanım in her home but determined that she
needed to reach a hospital. Villagers then outfitted a horse-drawn
sled to take Songül hanım to the ambulance, which ultimately
brought her to Hinis State Hospital for treatment.


       Hinis district is almost due south of Erzurum city.