06.06.2026 13:20
Şengül Gezer, living in Artvin, has endured five great sorrows one after another: over the years, she buried one of her babies, her daughter who fell from a horse, her older son struck by lightning, her husband who died of cancer, and five months ago, her shepherd son Bülent, whose lifeless body was recovered after an avalanche. Despite indescribable pain and a stroke she suffered, Gezer has not given up on life and is fighting to raise her four grandchildren left by her deceased children.
The life of Şengül Gezer, an 8-child mother living with her daughters-in-law and grandchildren in the Yolüstü village of Ardanuç district, was shaken by successive losses over the years. After losing her baby girl Yeşim, born in 1982, one day after birth, Gezer suffered a stroke from the pain. Regaining her health through treatment, Gezer's daughter Gözde also died in 2005 after falling from a horse. Gezer lost her eldest son Savaş (33) in 2012 when lightning struck him while herding sheep on the plateau, her husband Yalçın Gezer (60) who succumbed to cancer in 2021, and her son Bülent Gezer (44), whose body was found 125 days after an avalanche disaster in Aksu Plateau in Artvin 5 months ago, enduring 5 great sorrows in succession.
SHE VISITS THEIR GRAVES EVERY DAY
Mother Gezer, devastated by the pain of having buried 4 children, clings to life for the future of her remaining grandchildren despite all her suffering. Holding on to life with her 4 daughters, Gezer struggles through a tough life by raising livestock to support her grandchildren. Going to the barn early in the morning to tend to the animals, and visiting the graves of her children and husband every day to pray, Gezer relieves her longing by looking at photos of her children.
"MY PAIN IS ALWAYS VERY GREAT"
Describing her losses, Şengül Gezer said, "I have experienced great pains. I gave birth in the village. My daughter Yeşim was healthy in the evening; when I woke up in the morning, my baby had died. After that, I had a stroke. I lay paralyzed for a month. They transferred me from Artvin to Erzurum; I used the medicines they gave there, and I recovered after that. I have eight children including the one who died. After my daughter died, my 11-year-old daughter fell from a horse on the plateau and died. My daughter died in my arms. After that, my eldest son, and then my husband passed away. It was raining, lightning struck him, and he died that way. We searched for a long time but couldn't find my child. Months later, they said 'We found Bülent'; I was sitting on a log. A numbness went down from my knees, I became locked. I can't get up and walk. My pain is always very great," she said.
"BÜLENT WAS EVERYTHING TO US, OUR EXISTENCE"
Gezer said, "Bülent was everything to us; our existence, our mother, our father, our sibling, our child. We always relied on him. We endured indescribable pains. We embraced his pain. We saw the pain of the eldest son, the pain of the daughters, the pain of my husband. It's the world of livelihood; you work, you strive so that something happens. I have 4 grandchildren left behind. We work to provide them with a home. My holiday passed with teary eyes. Every time the door opened, I said 'Bülent is coming.' The sheep started giving birth; I got up at 4:00 AM and lit the stove thinking 'Bülent is coming, let him not be cold' so Bülent would come and warm himself. I spent 5 months in this state," she said.
"I HAD VOWED A SACRIFICE FOR MY SON'S DISCOVERY"
Expressing that she had vowed a sacrifice for the discovery of her son who died in the avalanche, Gezer said, "May Allah not inflict the pain of losing a child on anyone. Let them be hungry, thirsty, beg at the door, carry, gather, eat soil, but not suffer the pain of losing a child. I have taken refuge in Almighty Allah. May the Lord not test anyone with the pain of losing a child. Thank God, they took him from under the snow and handed him over to me. We brought the funeral, and I kept him at home for one night. I had vowed a sacrifice for his body to be found; I gave it to the foundation and had it slaughtered; may it be blessed. I loved my children so much; now I cannot go anywhere," she said.