Two victims of a deadly bus crash in Antalya have regained severed limbs after undergoing complex, hours-long surgeries that doctors initially said would not be possible.
The accident occurred on the morning of Feb. 1, when a passenger bus, traveling from the northwestern province of Tekirdağ to the southwestern province of Antalya, lost control on a bend near the Döşemealtı district, smashed through roadside barriers and plunged into a ravine.
Ten people were killed in the crash, while 24 others were injured and taken to nearby hospitals.
Among the injured were 33-year-old Sedef Sarı, whose leg was severed in the impact, and 21-year-old Yavuz Selim Yiğit, who lost an arm. Their amputated limbs were recovered at the scene by gendarmerie teams, preserved in ice and transported by ambulance to the hospital.
However, upon their transfer to Antalya City Hospital, medical staff initially told both patients that their severed limbs could not be replanted. Sedef Sarı’s brother-in-law, Vedat Sarı, who rushed to the hospital, contacted renowned surgeons Ömer Özkan and Özlenen Özkan, known for performing Türkiye’s first face and double arm transplants and asked for their assistance.
The Özkan team took both patients into surgery. Ömer Özkan led the operation to reattach Sarı’s leg, while Özlenen Özkan headed the procedure to replant Yığıt’s arm.
The surgeries were carried out simultaneously in adjacent operating rooms and lasted nearly 10 hours, involving meticulous repair of bones, muscles, nerves and blood vessels using advanced microsurgical techniques.
After a period in intensive care, the patients were transferred to regular wards and later visited by the surgeons. Hospital sources said their conditions were steadily improving.
Speaking after the operations, Özlenen Özkan emphasized that the outcome was made possible by proper handling and rapid transport of severed limbs. She noted that the first week following such microsurgical procedures is critical, as there is a risk of vascular blockage.
Ömer Özkan described the surgeries as highly challenging and underlined the importance of public awareness. He said people should be educated on how to preserve amputated limbs after accidents, stressing that correct and timely intervention can make the difference between permanent loss and recovery.
