03.11.2026 18:00
Azrasu Soykan (15), a high school student who was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 13 in Bolu, opened an exhibition during Leukemia Week with the paintings she made in her hospital room throughout her approximately 2-year treatment. Soykan, who also underwent a bone marrow transplant and had platinum implanted in her leg, dreams of selling her works to support her family with hospital expenses and one day going to a Fenerbahçe match.
High school student Azrasu Soykan (15), who lives in Bolu, turned the pictures she began drawing in her hospital room during her leukemia treatment into an exhibition. Soykan, who started making art during the treatment process, aims to contribute to hospital expenses by selling her works.
Azrasu Soykan, a ninth-grade student at Turgut Özal Anatolian High School, was diagnosed with leukemia when she was 13. Soykan, who was interested in basketball before her illness, began painting to cope with the difficulties she experienced during treatment. During her treatment lasting about 2 years, Soykan first became involved in paper marbling art in her hospital room, then turned to pencil drawings. Soykan also wrote a poem for and portrayed her mother, Mukaddes Soykan, who was by her side at every moment during the treatment process. Collecting the pictures she made with different techniques, Soykan opened the exhibition she had dreamed of as part of Leukemia Week. Soykan's works were presented to art lovers at the Painter Mehmet Yücetürk Art Center in Bolu City Square between November 2 and 8.
SHE CLUNG TO PAINTING IN THE HOSPITAL ROOM
Azrasu Soykan, stating that the illness process was difficult for her and that she started painting during this period, said, "I spent some of the most colorful times of my life in the hospital. About 2 years ago, I was diagnosed with leukemia in Bolu. They referred me from there to Ankara. In Ankara, while my brother was talking to the doctor, I heard him say that my white blood cell count was high. When I looked it up on the internet, I learned that it rises in leukemia. When I first heard it, I was very upset because I was going to basketball and so on. Leaving them was very hard for me. I would no longer be able to see my family. It was very hard. Around that time, I became interested in painting. I can say I consoled myself with pictures. My nephew was born. I heard that my nephew was going to be born. I waited for him. I consoled myself a little with him."
Soykan, who stated that her illness was diagnosed at an advanced stage and that the bone marrow transplant process was also difficult for her, noted that she turned to painting more during the time she spent in the hospital. Soykan, explaining that she first started paper marbling art with materials a nurse brought, said that she later became interested in pencil drawings. Soykan, expressing that the idea of opening an exhibition emerged after conversations with her older brother, said, "During the hospital process, because my stage was high, because it did not show symptoms, my illness was at the final stage. It was very hard, I mean. It was difficult. I had a transplant. The transplant process became even harder. Painting... I was very bored in the hospital. For example, I could no longer stay in the rooms. Around that time, I became interested in painting. At first, the nurse had brought paper marbling art. I started with it. Then I had a small flamingo picture. I drew it. Then I became interested in pencil drawing. I continued like that. We were talking among ourselves with my brother about the exhibition. I said to my brother, 'I have pictures, brother, I want to show them to everyone.' My brother said, 'Let's talk to the exhibition venue.' Filiz Abla helped us there in the exhibition hall. Thanks to her, I was able to open it too."
HER BIGGEST DREAM IS TO GO TO A FENERBAHÇE MATCH
Soykan, stating that her health problems continued after her treatment, said that a platinum implant was placed in her leg due to bone loss in her hip bone, and that treatment for the bone loss in her kneecap would be planned according to the MRI result. Soykan, expressing that she did not think of giving up painting, stated that after the exhibition she planned to sell her works to those who liked them, and said, "At the moment, because there is bone loss in my hip bone, a platinum implant was placed in my leg. Now there is some bone loss in my kneecap. Depending on the MRI result, the doctor will tell us the treatment for it. I do not think of giving up painting. I love doing it very much. At the end of the exhibition, I am thinking of putting up for sale the pictures that those who like my pictures like. Our trips to the hospital are frequent. I want to contribute to my family with the income I will earn from here. My biggest dream is to go to a Fenerbahçe match. I would like to get a signed jersey and meet the people on the team. I want to go to a Fenerbahçe match with my family," she said.