Mother, daughter stay strong post Ankara terror attack

By Yesim Sert Karaaslan

ANKARA

A day after a deadly bomb attack took the lives of dozens of innocent people in the Turkish capital of Ankara, survivors, including a young mother and her four-and-a-half year old are continuing to struggle with their wounds at hospitals across the city.

Wednesday was supposed to be just like any other normal day for Senay Senses, who had taken her daughter to a nursery at the Turkish General Staff where she worked. In the evening, they boarded an army bus service to return home when a bomb exploded that left 28 people dead and 81 others, including them injured.

When Senses regained consciousness after the impact at the hospital, the first thing she asked was: “where is my daughter?”, her cousin told Anadolu Agency.

Despite the fact that she herself got hit injured in the head and ear, the inconsolable mother only wanted to know her daughter’s condition, whose whereabouts were initially unknown because she was sent to another hospital for treatment.

"Thank God we later learned that she [the daughter] went under surgery at the Baskent Hospital. At least now we are a little bit more relaxed," the mother’s cousin, who did not want to be identified, told Anadolu Agency.

The condition of the young child, Buse Senses, remains serious, according to doctors treating her. She was sitting near the bus window when the attack took place and got hit by shards of glass in her head and small body.

Baskent University Hospital doctor Adnan Torgay told Anadolu Agency Buse underwent surgeries lasting for about seven to eight hours for taking shards of glass out from her body.

"We will try to wake her up tomorrow if we do not face an extraordinary situation," Torgay said.

Buse’s grandparent Ismail Selvi said that when little Buse gained her consciousness for a bit, she too kept asking for her mother.

Earlier on Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced that PKK-affiliated terrorists carried out the bomb attack near military vehicles in Ankara on Wednesday evening, which killed 28 people. Some 81 people were affected by the attack, Turkish Health Ministry said, adding that 59 people were discharged from the hospital.

"Twenty-two people still remain at the hospital, including seven under treatment in the intensive care unit," the ministry said Thursday afternoon.