Gezi protester injured by police gas canister discharged from hospital after two brain surgeries

ISTANBUL

The pictures of Lobna Allami, a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin, lying on the ground in Taksim Square after she was struck her in the head were instrumental in fomenting rage among protesters about police brutality. DHA photo

A woman severely injured by a gas canister in the initial Gezi Park protests in Istanbul on May 31 has been discharged from hospital July 19 after undergoing two brain surgeries.
 
The pictures of Lobna Allami, a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin, lying on the ground in Taksim Square after she was struck her in the head were instrumental in fomenting rage among protesters about police brutality.
 
Allami’s condition remained critical for days and despite her recovery, the police’s violent attack has left her right side in a partially paralyzed state for which she will have to undergo physiotherapy.
 
Her sister, Fatin, explained to daily Hürriyet that the canister had also damaged the area of the brain that controls the functions of speech. “She is improving every day, but she will never be the same Lobna again,” the victim’s sister said.
 
Five people have died and thousands have been injured since the Gezi protests erupted in late May when Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality attempted to cut down trees in Taksim’s most iconic park, touching off anger in Istanbul and cities around the country. 
 
Mustafa Ali Tombul, a 17-year-old protester who had been in a coma after also being injured in the protests by a gas canister on July 8, has recovered consciousness. 
 
But Berkin Elvan, a 14-year-old who was wounded in the same way by a ferocious police attack as he stepped out to by bread in Istanbul’s Okmeydanı neighborhood on June 15, is still in intensive care.