Germany : A Turkish student dies after rescuing two teenagers
Tugce Albayrak, a young Turkish student died on November 15th after rescuing two teenagers in Frankfurt. She was 23 years old.
All began in the toilets of a MacDo in Offenbach near Frankfurt. She was eating inside the fast-food restaurant with her friend on the night of November 14th to 15th near 4.am when she heard screams from the toilets. Two very young teenagers totally drunk were attacked by a group of 3 men.
Tugce came to their rescue. She rescued them by herself. Nobody had moved to help her. While she was helping the boys, the attackers went away. Tugce thought the boys were gone, but one of them was waiting for Tugce in the parking lot. A few minutes later, Tugce came out of the fast-food restaurant, and the attacker lunged at her and gave her a violent blow to the head with a baseball bat. Tugce fell down and fainted and her head hit the ground hard. Later, Tugce fell into a coma.
When she was in hospital, the doctors put Tugce in a medically induced coma. Her condition did not improve. On her 23th anniversary, her parents decided to disconnect her from the machines that had kept her alive for a fortnight. When this piece of news was announced, the whole of Germany was touched. A rally was planned outside the hospital on the day of her death to pay her homage. Her parents were present in the room and looked fondly on the people that were present for her. They even brought a birthday cake to blow out her 23 candles in her hospital room. She was considered a heroine, Joachim Gauck, the German President, declared :
"She will always remain a model for us, showing courage and bravery while others looked away".
The autopsy should indicate whether it was the blows or the fall that caused her loss of consciousness.
Thanks to the security cameras, the police have arrested the attacker, a 28-year-old man named Senal H. He already had a criminal record. But the other attacker was not identified. The two girls whom Tugce had rescued have not come forward. We don't know why the employers of Mac Donalds did not intervene.
A Facebook page was created in her memory and now has more than 160,000 likes. One footballer dedicated his match to her.
A petition on Change.org received more than 140,000 signatures to give her the medal of honor. The president promises to seriously consider this idea.
