Late Turkish-German heroine ‘lives on’ thanks to organ donations

Ali Varlı BERLIN

Tuğçe Albayrak, a 22-year-old Turkish student who was killed while defending two German girls from being harassed last year, now “lives” in five different people through a series of organ transplants.

Albayrak was brutally beaten on Nov. 15 when she intervened between three men of Serbian-descent who were harassing two underage girls in a restaurant in the German city of Offenbach. She was declared brain dead after the attack on Nov. 26 and her parents decided to turn off her life support systems on Nov. 28, the date of her birth 23 years ago.

After uniting the country in sorrow, with hundreds of people staging silent commemorations in her honor, Albayrak’s heart, two kidneys, pancreas, lungs and liver have now been transplanted to five people in Germany.

Doğuş Albayrak, the victim’s brother, told daily Hürriyet that he felt proud when the family recently received a letter from the German organ donation institution.

“We learned that she opted to become an organ donor her organs when she was just 18. She saved two young girls when she was alive, and now her organs have saved three people’s lives and made the lives of two others better,” he said.

The prime suspect of the killing, identified as Sanel M., is awaiting trial in a prison in Germany. The first hearing is scheduled to begin on April 20.