13.11.2026 13:41
Chief Inspector Mustafa Tan, who is on duty in Erzurum, devotes all his time outside working hours to his 10-year-old daughter Eylül, who is paralyzed from the waist down and whom doctors recommended be aborted while she was in the womb. While footage of him playing snowballs with his daughter in her wheelchair during snowfall drew attention on social media, Tan said, "I want to grow my daughter's dreams, not the obstacles in front of her."
Chief Inspector Mustafa Tan, who works in Erzurum, spends all his time outside work with his 10-year-old daughter, Eylül, who was born paralyzed from the waist down, and provides her with every kind of support.
The story of Chief Inspector Tan, who during the snowfall that hit Erzurum in recent days took his disabled daughter Eylül outside and entertained her in the streets covered with a white blanket, and the strong bond and love between him and his daughter, warms hearts.
THEY REJECTED THE DOCTORS' ABORTION RECOMMENDATION
Tan, from Bingöl, learned in 2015 while receiving police training that his wife was pregnant and that the baby in her womb was also disabled.
The Tan couple rejected the doctors' recommendation to abort the baby and named their daughter, born in 2016 paralyzed from the waist down, Eylül.
ALL HIS TIME OUTSIDE WORK IS FOR HIS DAUGHTER
Tan, who started his profession six months after his daughter was born, has since spent all the time left from his shifts with his child, who has now turned 10.
Devoting his life to his daughter, Tan plays games with Eylül, shares in her happiness and supports her in achieving her dreams.
Chief Inspector Tan told an Anadolu Agency reporter that he has 8 siblings and that, as a family, they place special value on girls.
Stating that he loves his daughter Eylül very much, Tan said, “Policing is a difficult profession that requires sacrifice. Every day I don't go to duty, my only job is to take care of Eylül. After Eylül came along, I set aside all my social activities; my everything is Eylül.”
Recalling that footage of him having fun with his daughter in the snow during the snowfall that hit a few days ago drew attention on social media, Tan said:
“That day it suddenly started snowing, and the children wanted to go outside. At first I said, ‘You’ll get cold and sick,’ but after they insisted, I went out to the market and looked at the sky. Then I came home, dressed the children, and we went downstairs. Other children were playing; it is difficult in the snow, pushing the wheelchair is troublesome, but I said, ‘As long as my daughter is happy,’ and I took Eylül over to them. We played snowballs. Eylül cannot bend down and pick up snow, so I would make snowballs and give them to her, and she would throw them at me; my wife also filmed it. My daughter is attached to me. If I have set an example for fathers through this, I am happy, because we must love our children; they are our future, and if their faces are smiling, it means there is hope. I want to grow my daughter's dreams, not the obstacles in front of her. I have sacrificed myself for my daughter; as long as she is happy, I am happy too. She is my boss; whatever she says, I do it. The boss in our house is also Eylül.”
INTELLIGENT AND SMART, IN THE TOP 4 OF HER CLASS
Explaining that his daughter's disability is only physical and that he therefore ensured she receives education in a normal school, Tan said, “She is intelligent and smart, in the top 4 of her class, hardworking. I want Eylül to become a scientist. I make every kind of sacrifice for my daughter.”
Tan recounted that before his child was born, while she was in her mother's womb, the doctors told them about the disability and recommended that they terminate the pregnancy; he stated that everyone is a potential person with a disability and that he therefore did not accept this.
Tan, who has been serving in the city for 5 years, thanked Provincial Police Chief Mahmut Ay and other unit chiefs for providing the necessary opportunities for him to care for his daughter.
Eylül Tan, for her part, mentioned that on the day it snowed she watched outside from by the window, and said, “We went outside and played snowballs beautifully; it was very nice. My father is my hero, I love him very much; the bond between us is very beautiful, he does whatever I say.”