Support pours in for devastated elderly couple whose cows were struck by lightning in Turkey

Their son, Ahmet Girkin, had shared the footage of his parents in the Akoluk village of Kütahya, prompting many social media users to send messages asking the Kütahya Governor’s Office to help them.

“I don’t know what we will do now. All we had were these cows. These animals were like my children. We don’t know what to do. My son is taking care of us,” 62-year-old Fatma Girkin said, adding that they had no source of income other than the cows. 

“We had one cow many years ago. These cows bred from them and we had eight cows. Now five of them are dead. Some of them were pregnant,” she also said. 

Ahmet Girkin said he had brought the cows to a meadow for them to feed and left the animals there to go to a nearby field. He returned to the meadow after a lightning storm started and there he found the dead animals, who had been struck by lightning. 

“All I had were these cows. I have no other source of income. I earned a living through selling the milk of these cows,” he said. 

Upon the hundreds of messages sent by people requesting support for the Girkins, the Kütahya Governor’s Office issued a statement.

“We’ve reached the family in Akoluk. Necessary efforts have been launched by our office,” it stated.