We are on the road for the 2nd canyon festival organized by Kad Association in Pınarbaşı, Kastamonu.. I took canyoning training at Kad Association this year, but I got injured.. This is an extreme sport and canyoning means you can get injured at any time.. This article also tells behind the scenes of an injury and recovery story.. I think the first thing to learn before starting this sport is to learn how to save and I just wrote it so that you can enter with confidence.. ‘Cause that’s how they’ll come to save you. I stand behind my sentence “I will think twice about entering that canyon if they are going to save me like this”.
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Of course, none of us knew what was going to happen when we were on the road to Kastamonu with my friends I met during the trainings organized by the Kad Association.. Early in the morning, we are in the camping area reserved for us in Pınarbaşı.. Our instructors came to the campsite a few days in advance and started working on the infrastructure.. I am very happy to meet with my friends and teachers that I have not seen for a long time.. Within the scope of the festival, activities such as trekking, canyon crossing and zipline are included for each day.
We are in August and the weather is very hot.. There is no water left in the Horma Canyon. The remaining water is puddles and looks lush. They also built walking paths inside the canyon.. From the people walking here, something was falling on the athletes passing the canyon below at any moment.. I haven’t been able to wear closed shoes for 3 months because of my foot injury.. When the information comes that sewage is mixed into the canyon, I have no desire to cross the Horma Canyon.
Is Canyon Training a Must?
People who have never entered the canyon before, Although the teacher said no to enter the canyon the next day, after seeing that they were allowed to enter the canyon with the approval of the President of the Association, I would never enter.. We trained for three months.. It was said that those who do not attend a training cannot continue the next one.. Just for this reason, I was supposed to be at the wedding on a boat in the Bosphorus, but I slept in a tent in Ballıkayalar, wrapped in a water bag to avoid freezing.. My friends still don’t talk to me because I didn’t go to the wedding. What is the need for education?. Waving his hand enters. These teachers hang people like a bucket from morning to night at the end of a rope.. Sin.
The world’s highest walled canyon, Valla Canyon, will be crossed as part of the festival.. The first figure I heard was that the number of participants was 55.. crazy work. An announcement interrupts our pleasant conversation by the fire.. Information will be given for Valla Canyon. After the briefing, the number drops to 35 but I think it’s still too crowded. I started canyoning to cross the Valla Canyon, but I am not a participant because I find it pointless to cross the canyon with such a crowd and running.. I have to enjoy, I have to feel nature, I have to experience it. I don’t want to be the only person passing by.
Valla Canyon Injury News
My friends that I trained will enter Valla Canyon. They get up at 6 in the morning and get ready for the canyon.. They aim to pass in 2 days. When we couldn’t find an event to our liking in the festival area, we set out with an offer from a friend who lives in Loç Valley and we met from the canyon.. We are going 120 km away to Loç Valley.. A trekking group was going to do a creek walk.. We’re invited there.
When we came back at night, we found out that someone was injured in the canyon.. Who he is is kept a secret.. He asked the president of the association, “Are they from our friends?” I ask. I understand when I get a rounded answer “They’re all our friends”. yes one of ours. I learned from someone within half an hour that Erdal was injured.. Injury that occurred half an hour after entering the canyon. They had to proceed from the water to the first campsite.
Valla Canyon‘There is no exit from . He was making a phone call at the first campsite.. If Erdal was to be taken out of the canyon, the only place the helicopter could take was this campground.. (This is the second deepest canyon with the highest wall in the world) They will decide the next morning.. They’ll think about your situation.. There was a doctor inside.. we shouldn’t have worried. We have no choice but to say “Okay”. They are the ones in charge.
Is there a First Aid Kit?
The doctor wanted to give an injection, but the bulb did not come out of the first aid kit.. From what was later said, there wasn’t even a pain pill in the common first aid kit.. Someone took a pain reliever pill and gave him such a medicine.. This is not the first time, except for Valla Canyon, I wouldn’t wait for the insiders to come out.. It was our biker girls who were with the deceased Anıl in the only mortal Canyon crossing in Turkey.. “Again?” I say. The next morning I learn that Erdal does not have a serious condition.. They didn’t need a helicopter.. They decided to cross the water.. They were going to try to take it up from the last camping area at the exit of the canyon.
I walked there the day before.. Thinking about the shingle walls, I wonder how they’re going to pull it up from there. like impossible. I couldn’t walk there. Constantly sliding rocks. I get the answer “Afad is there”. The President of the Kad Association is interested in the issue, after all.. It is difficult for a healthy person, but I say “they know something”.
I think it is necessary to leave the job to the people.. They load the people staying in the campsite into vehicles and take them to the opening of the terrace built in the Valla Canyon with the protocol and the mayor.. It still hurts when I think about it. While we were eating, drinking and having fun there, there were moments of suffering in the canyon.. We are in Loç Valley at the exit of Valla Canyon around 4 o’clock. The villagers built a wooden bridge with their own means.. The place where this wooden bridge is means “You have crossed the canyon and you have finished”.
Erdal Extracted from the Canyon
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We are there to wait and welcome our friends out of the canyon. I go to the President of the Association and ask again.” Were you able to get Erdal out of the canyon?” I say. He says “yes we did”. “Did they remove Ersan as well? (Ersan Erdalı’s brother)” I say. He says, “How can they get the big man out, they only took Erdal”. “Where is he now? Let’s go to her?” I say. “Afad looks at him,” she says.. I say, “Okay, sir, let’s go to him alone”. When he receives a harsh reply saying “Afad will look”, he has no choice but to say ok.. I don’t have my own vehicle. We came together. The important thing is for Erdal to get out of there anyway.
With this relief, we throw ourselves into the water and swim.. We laugh, we have fun. what to have fun. By the way I see people coming out of the canyon. I say to our driver Coşkun Abiye, “If they start to go out, let’s walk up the creek a little bit and take pictures”. We’re moving on, bye-bye. If I had to describe this place to you; Devrekani Stream, which is quite wide, stony, very difficult to pass through the shore in places, will require you to pass through the water.. It’s hard to walk in shorts and t-shirts. Those coming out of the canyon have been wearing scuba suits for two days. They have life jackets on them and bags of at least 100 liters on their backs. They’ve been crossing the canyon for two days. They spent the night in the canyon. They haven’t been able to get enough sleep.
While passing the canyon, most places are swimming in the water, but the main thing is to walk this half-hour road after the canyon exit.. We greet those who sit on a rock with Coşkun brother.. The first thing I see is Zeki. They are finished. “How was Erdal?” I say. “They’re coming back,” she says. How so? Wasn’t Erdal taken out of the canyon? How and why to lie about such a matter? Of course, that’s not the time to question them, but people get very angry.
The Story of Disappearance in the Canyon
15 minutes after the clever ones leave, someone I don’t know comes.. “How long until the exit?” says. When I say “10 minutes”, I am witnessing the destruction of a person.. With her bag on her back, she begins to sleep as she sits. We are surprised with Coşkun brother. If he turns left and right, we cannot think that he fell from that rock.. We are waiting for your head. Maybe he slept for half an hour. I dont know. He gets up and goes. Then what’s coming, what’s going. After a long time we see a smoke. We are going there with Coşkun brother to understand what happened, but on the road I passed the day before, the trees that were put to get down have fallen from the passerby.. We say “let’s go and tell”. As soon as we get to the full turn, my teacher İbrahim comes running.. He came out of the canyon.
He is sending Coşkun back to inform him.. I say “I’m coming”. When we say “Okay”, we run to the smoke.. Turns out, our friends called 112 because they thought they were lost.. They also announced that people were lost in the canyon.. It was said to them in the last camping area at the exit from the canyon; “There is no passing through water from now on.. You can wear your dry clothes.” When they came across a huge rock, they did not understand that they had to climb it.. They thought that they were lost because it was said that they could not pass through the water.
Nobody Was Actually Lost
Erdal and his brother Ersan’s bag was shared with other people. They have bags larger than their own size. I don’t know how they were going to climb over that rock with that bag.. I remember that the day before I crossed that rock so hard. My teacher İbrahim says “you can bring them” like he is carrying a bag and runs away.. I didn’t know if I should be surprised if a man who had passed such a canyon for two days ran over the rocks that we could hardly walk, with that heavy bag.. It’s getting dark until we step out and the lantern really works. Thank god we have a 14-year-old boy with us.. she is carrying one of the bags. ‘Cause I can’t move. When I leave, I am greeted with scolding and shouting from the president of the association.. Brother Coşkun sits on a log and gets scolded like a lamb.. He’s not interested in us seeing the smoke and letting him know.. Interested in why we go there. Where we went is ten minutes away. It was already daylight when we went.
Everybody Will Go
When I get rid of these shouts, I realize that there is no one else around but us.. They put everyone in the vehicles and sent them away.. According to what Hakan Hodja said, people started arguing because there was work the next day.. He sent everyone. The president of the association says “everyone will go with the new ones”. I say “I want to stay”. In a way that I can’t understand, I’m in the focus of the president of the association.. He says “Go” and nothing else.. I never trust him because of the lie that Erdal told about being taken out of the canyon.. I have no intention of going anywhere without seeing my friends with my own eyes.
My other teachers are calm, but the decision maker is in panic.. Eyes crying, hands don’t know where to put. Let alone running a rescue operation, he needs some serious help.. Brother Coşkun grabs my shoulder and says “come”. He realizes that he’s come at me unnecessarily.. We’re going to the car to get water, a flashlight and fleece.. When we arrived everyone was gone. I’m stuck. The president of the association, who saw me there, is not pleased of course.. My only goal is to do my best there, to see my friends safe and sound.. As I learned later, he said “he is not even a member of the association”, but I don’t understand what a signature on a piece of paper does.. Why do we need signed papers to help, to be human? He is the reason why I am not a member of the association.
A huge fire has been lit.. So that the ones that come out get warm and dry, but there is no one who can get out. Nurse girl from Umke waiting by the fire, phone in her hand, taking a photo of the fire. She says “I want to go home”. I say “like all of us”. (Later, I have doubts about who slammed the ambulance door on my arm twice while Erdal was in the ambulance.) The ambulance is standing by.. The gendarme is there too.. Gendarmerie asks the head of the association the name of the injured. We are waiting for him to answer but there is a deep silence. Finally I say. Erdal Basaran. He gets so mad at me for saying. It is known that this man was injured for two days. Even in the press. Was it classified information? Why is she getting angry because I said it? What is the reason for not answering when asked? Maybe he forgot his name? I still don’t know the answer to these questions.
We Have Another New Casualty
While we are busy making tea for the people there, a radio announcement passes by. “We have no light, no water, no food.. The Afad officer who entered was also injured.. We need urgent help.” At the top of that dark mountain, dozens of people remained silent, the voice echoing in the mountains.. Is it possible to forget? we stay. We had one injured, now it’s two. My teacher İbrahim says “I will go”. He immediately starts putting on his scuba suit.. We’re trying to find water. We collect the remaining water in plastic bottles. We’re digging through the food in the bags of those leaving the canyon. No water, no food.
We’re trying to find a lantern. I don’t know how many times we opened and closed that bag.. I don’t know what time Hasan teacher is coming. He says the condition of Afad official is worse than Erdal.. “My finger went in the kneecap, it collapsed on the kneecap,” he says.. “Crying big man,” she says. he says. There is nothing worse than being helpless.. Teachers are ready but can’t go. Afad officer can’t get ready. I have no clue why. I’m not allowed to ask.
When I think about it, the events that happened there come to my mind frame by frame.. For a headlamp; who it belongs to, the sentences made to come back amazes me. 35 lira a head lantern. What if he doesn’t come? I observe people’s reactions in times of stress. I’m very cold-blooded in such matters.. I have always been solution-oriented with zero panic.. Afad officer is not experienced in canyoning anyway. Isn’t it okay if only our teachers go? we can’t ask. At the head of Afad, a 25-year-old boy yells at anyone who comes in front of him with a radio in his hand.. 60 year old scolds people. I wish he would cooperate with those people who lived in canyons. No one can say anything to him.. I don’t know why either. I can’t ask him either.
Finally, Our Friends Are Getting Out of the Canyon By Their Own Possibility
My friends are getting out of the canyon on their own while we are dealing with all this.. It was so good that we were there to help.. we did a lot of work. I can’t look at the faces of those who came out of my shame. Erdal is taken directly to the ambulance.. I’m going to you in the ambulance. I hold your hand and smile. we joke. Thank goodness they came out. Afad officer mountain man trembling with pain. I feel his pain in my heart.
According to what we learned, they tied Erdal to a stretcher in that rocky area, and then they untied it.. “One in ten minutes” says friends. Because it is not possible to walk side by side and carry people there, especially in the dark.. Finally, Afad took the officer on his back and his foot slipped.. I’m sure he has no other purpose than to help, but there one finds it difficult to walk alone.. Let a man walk in the dark on his back. Those who came to help were on land, ours were in water.. Everyone is surrounded by anger, fatigue, thirst, insomnia, whatever else they were.. There have been ego wars.
Everyone is packing up in a hurry. It was 12 o’clock at night. we are all hungry. Logistic support zero. No water, no food. what were we there for. Yes, we were ready for him to applaud the ones who came out, but we didn’t have any equipment to wrap the ones who came out.. Everyone is exhausted. Ambulance picks up the injured. Whoever gets in the vehicle falls asleep immediately. We are trying to find the way with brother Coşkun. We came a different way. Navigation not working, no internet because. That’s why I came back from those roads in the middle of the night the day before. I learned the ways. Nothing happens without a reason.
And Finally We Go
The roads of Loç Valley are narrow and winding. We need to keep our driver Coşkun brother awake.. So tired. We are at Azdavay State Hospital directly in the morning.. They didn’t give the x-ray.. I take a picture of the screen and send it to Hülya. I make Erdal and Ersan talk to friends. Erdal is still shaking. The president of the association wants to take him from the hospital and go.. It’s around 4 in the morning. we are camping. When I said, “He can’t sleep in the tent like this”, the President of the Association very sternly asks, “how could I think of taking her to the hotel, sleeping in a tent like this”. I’m keeping quiet.
We empty the back of the vehicle, put Erdal on a stretcher, and return to our campsite.. Getting out of the vehicle, he goes to his tent. Campground is empty. everyone is back. there is only one. You know, we were going to take Erdal to the hotel, we put the man who died in the canyon for two days, whose psychology collapsed, who was writhing in pain and trembling, in the bus.. An hour has passed since he was told to go to the hotel.. changed mind. Why? we can’t ask. There is no question, there is only allegiance, no questioning, obeying even if the decision seems wrong to us.. We try to eat whatever we find by the fire and stay warm.. We give speeches trying to understand what we are going through.
What is the Inside Call for Help?
I am quoting exactly what my teacher wrote about the help call coming from the radio at the last exit and the events in the canyon, without touching the comma;
The man was not carried on other people’s backs, the canyon was a watery canyon so he carried water in the water, we came to the place where afad reached us easily, next The trekking stage was difficult because it was rocky. The other alternative route, the steep slope, was a short but very risky route due to the possibility of falling stones… Here, we consulted with afad and preferred the long but less risky stage instead of the short but risky stage. The athlete gets tired, it is in the nature of this job, but no one was left hungry, thirsty and thirsty. There was enough food, 800 lumen waterproof flashlight with spare batteries, and a water filter with me. If afad did not enter with enough materials, is this our problem? ,which they asked for reinforcements in case they camped…
Also, we didn’t hand over our injured friend to Afad and leave, we didn’t leave him for a moment until the ambulance because of our responsibility…
We could have delivered it to Afad and left… they offered to remove it from the slope, but that way was tried and it was abandoned due to the risk of falling stones, half of the way was carried by us in the water, half on the land with afad on the back and with shoulder support…
What Happened in the Canyon?
Erdal was injured in the first half hour. They divided his and his brother Ersan’s bag into other people.. Bags 100 liters, huge and heavy. Our famous 5th group and a few good guys (Metehan, Mahmut, Özgür, Ömer, Ersan) carried Erdal from beginning to end.. They tied Erdal’s hands. They lowered it into the waters from above. Download as slow as you want. The flow of water is so strong that every time that water goes from his nose to his brain.. When I said to the friends carrying Erdal, the teacher said, “The water carried the wounded,” they were astounded.
When they arrived at the campsite in the canyon, the doctor in the canyon looked. “There is nothing good. He crosses the canyon,” he said.. doctor family doctor. When we go to an orthopedist in a hospital, he doesn’t decide without seeing the x-ray, but they looked from the outside in his canyon and understood this.. And they asked the injured man, “Will you pass?” If the helicopter comes, Erdal was worried that they might close the canyon and said “I will pass”.. He heard such conversations and felt responsible.
Sometimes some friends carried them on their backs.. All this took 2 days.. Healthy people go crazy. In the announcement I heard, there was no mention of “in case of camping” as my teacher said.. Other people there also heard. Metehan said “we were going to die of thirst”. They found a resource. “I don’t remember how many bottles of water we drank,” he said.. For two whole days, while they were trying to reach the exit of the canyon, the people who were supposed to save them did not make a mechanism where they thought to take Erdal.. They said, “Even the length of the rope they brought was not enough.”
What Happened to Erdal’s Leg? How Was the Treatment Process?
While we were laughing and having fun, while we were laughing and swimming in the creek, they experienced these too.. In the canyon, my teacher, who commented that Erdal was spoiled and did not have a pain threshold, did he feel embarrassment when Erdal took it for 6 months? I’m curious. A piece of bone was broken in the leg, which is said to have nothing, and he went for a walk in the body.. He went to countless doctors.
He started work at the end of a month thanks to the doctor who said “Nothing will pass”. Then another doctor said “don’t step on it for two months, it’s too dangerous”. They said “you can have surgery”. Couldn’t leave the house for months. Members of the association, who always told us “we are a family”, did not visit.. Didn’t pick up the phone. Even though they gather in the association every Wednesday, they did not think of spending a Wednesday meeting by visiting Erdal.. He went to physical therapy six days a week for a full month after standing up.. Received 1.5 hours of physical therapy every day. Still not fully recovered.
To Whom the Applause Goes?
There is a paper that we have signed before entering the canyon, and if anything happens, the phone of the person to call in case of emergency is taken.. No one was sought. Until Erdal went home, his wife and family did not know.. I would always write my own phone there and say “I am entrusted to you”. I’ve proven that writing doesn’t make any sense either.. Everyone wrote pages of thanks to Afad, Umke and KAD Association for their “successful rescue operation”. I guess I was a critic.. Dozens of people attacked me.
I was shouted like a child by the president of the association and the phones were turned off in my face.. I don’t care about anything. i did what i had to do. I didn’t go anywhere without seeing my friends safely and thankfully no one died this time.. The rest is people’s ego, disrespect, covering up their own inadequacies. The people to be thanked there were none other than my friends who carried the wounded in the canyon and did not let go, and the injured Afad officer.. There are dozens of canyons in our country and hundreds of people entering the canyon. And yet, why not have a rescue team trained on this subject.
Only the canyoner can save the canyoner. A truly challenging nature canyons. Young children who do not know what a canyon is in their life are said to go and save them.. If they send my child, I don’t want him to go. Then who will save him. Do they have supernatural powers? With the education you did not give, you are waiting for him to save a man in a way he did not know in his life.. You’ve read about a canyon festival, a rescue story. Is this how every rescue happens? Has any lesson been learned from this experience? I guess we’ll live and learn. Take as much first aid supplies as you can with you in case this happens.. Because no one will carry it for you. Inform your relatives on the way to the canyon. Keep in touch with those outside. The authorities there will not inform your relatives.. If you don’t come across it, either from a television screen or from a newspaper, you will find out when you open the door.