The plight of the injured

Be it a terror attack, a mine disaster or a traffic accident, whenever there is a fatal incident, we always focus on the dead. We count how many people have died; we assume the injured have been "saved."

As a matter of fact, the condition of the injured is sometimes worse than the dead. While we assume that they survived with a couple of scratches, they might have to continue their lives after losing their limbs; some of them cannot even make it out of a coma. But we do not quite focus on that aspect. 

A few months ago, because of a natural gas explosion in an apartment in Istanbul's Cihangir neighborhood, a street vendor selling the Turkish bagel "simit" died. Everybody felt sorry for this simit seller. As a matter of fact, there was another person injured in the explosion, taxi driver Veysi Bulut. 

Bulut had a cerebral hemorrhage; his vertebral bone was broken. He has not been able to move for months and is unconscious. Bulut is 33 years old and has three kids aged 13, 10 and 18 months. Bulut was an intercity carrier; he had two trucks. He owned his taxi but its license plate was leased. On the weekends, he would take over the taxi so that his driver could take time off and spend time with his family. At the time of the explosion, debris falling from the building landed on his vehicle.  

His family is shattered. His wife is a housewife; she does not have any income. They live in a rented house. To pay their expenses, the taxi was sold. His brother Mehmet Bulut put his own house up for sale. 

Veysi Bulut is being treated at a state hospital but their money is just not enough for expenses. The family pays for the medication. They turned their house into a mini hospital to prepare for his discharge. The office of the...