Dear friends & followers,

If you are looking into our campaign page from time to time, you will have seen that we have passed the 6.000 EUR bar, having collected so far 6.355 EUR between on-line and off-line donations. The number of visitors to the site has almost reached 2.300! Another 1.800 EUR have been transferred to Murat yesterday; the bank transfer receipt is available in the picture gallery. We continue progressing little by little, which is the important thing.

Tonight is the big event, we will have the concert of Mild Blood + The Sharrocks in Madrid (see details in previous update). If you don’t have yet a ticket, you can still get it this evening directly at Moby Dick Club. I am sure the guys will enjoy a great audience and we will all have a lot of fun.

Regarding Sümeyye, Murat has finally obtained this month the official disability report confirming Sümeyye’s degree of disability (80%). This document will now entitle her family to obtain a governmental monthly subsidy of 950 TL (approx. 260 EUR), starting hopefully in January (not yet confirmed). The Turkish public health system has also started paying for diapers, syringes etc. and some of the required medicines, and will also be covering 8 hours of physiotherapy per month at the Neşem Rehabilitasyon Merkezi rehab institute. Sümeyye will however require an additional 8 hours, due to the severity of her condition. Once all this is in place in Jan/Feb, the medical expenses will be reduced to approx. 490 EUR/month (1.800 TL), which is a significantly lower amount than in the past.

Some further good news on the medical side is that Sümeyye is improving properly in taking semi-solid food. If this development continues, it might be possible to remove the nasogastric feeding tube as soon as February. Sümeyye was frequently suffering convulsions, which are now being successfully treated with Clobazam. Dr.Burak Tatlı has confirmed a positive progress during last revision of Sümeyye, having prescribed also regular injections of Cortexin to improve brain energy metabolism and support the recovery of cerebral functions. This treatment is not covered by the public system. Sümeyye has started to make some noises from her mouth and is reacting to sound and voices.

The Solidarity Association for the Physical Disabled (Bedensel Engellilerle Dayanışma Derneği) in Cevizly/Istambul will fund a special infant electric wheelchair for Sümeyye, which will be of great help and allow her parents to easily move Sümeyye around and bring her regularly outside. This association will also donate the special seating/balance device we mentioned in some previous report, which should help Sümeyye to exercise and strengthen her leg muscles and get prepared to later stand straight and hopefully walk.

We continue hoping on Sümeyye’s full recovery and wish that with your financial solidarity, we can continue supporting this great family in the process, relieving them from some of the pressure they have.

Murat is still looking for a job in Istanbul area. His background and experience is in Accounting. If you know of anything that could be potentially suitable for him, even if not in Finance/Accounting, let me know and I will be glad of providing contact details, a CV and references.

And last but not least, let me wish you all a great New Year's Eve and all the best for 2017!

Thank you again for all of your help!

Rafa & Team