Two survivors wounded by putschist soldiers at Istanbul’s Orhanli toll booths during Türkiye’s defeated July 15, 2016 coup attempt have recalled the night and the injuries that changed their lives 10 years later.

Uzeyir Civan lost his left arm after being shot, while Aysenur Tolun suffered a spinal injury that has left her using a wheelchair.

Civan told Anadolu Agency that he went to the area after learning that soldiers involved in the coup attempt were trying to seize Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

‘I lost my arm, but my homeland was safe’

Having witnessed the 1980 military coup as a teenager, he said he knew the damage such interventions could cause to the country and future generations.

At the Orhanli toll booths, Civan said he initially hoped to persuade the soldiers not to take part in the coup attempt. He climbed onto barriers and led chants emphasising that soldiers and police were brothers.

The soldiers, however, opened fire on the crowd, forcing him to take cover behind a bitumen tanker.

When the gunfire stopped, Civan said he approached the soldiers with his hands raised and asked them not to shoot. They opened fire again, striking him in the left arm.

A civilian used a T-shirt to apply pressure to the wound before Civan was taken to a hospital, where doctors were unable to save his arm.

“When I woke up, I asked whether the events were over and whether the homeland was safe,” he said.

“I had lost my arm, but my homeland was safe. Nothing else mattered. Even if 50 years pass, we will continue to carry that day in our hearts.”

‘People you believed were protecting your country were firing at you’

Tolun, who was 23 at the time, said she and her mother left their home in the northwestern province of Kocaeli after learning of the coup attempt on television.

They were heading toward Sabiha Gokcen Airport but were unable to proceed because the road was blocked at the Orhanli toll booths.

Tolun said she got out of the vehicle to see what was happening when soldiers began firing at civilians.

As she and her mother tried to take cover behind vehicles, Tolun was shot in the spine and collapsed.

“People you believed were your own soldiers, who were supposed to protect your country, were firing at you without hesitation,” she said.

Believing she might not survive, Tolun called her father.

“I said, ‘Dad, I have been shot. Please give me your blessing,’ and then I hung up,” she recalled.

Tolun was taken to a hospital several hours later. She said her treatment and physical therapy have continued for the past decade and that she still hopes to walk again.

She currently practices walking with long-leg devices and continues other rehabilitation treatments.

“Despite every obstacle, we will continue to struggle, work, and produce for our country,” she said.

More than 40 people were wounded and several others were killed in the violence at the Orhanli toll booths.

Both survivors said they remain proud that public resistance helped defeat the coup attempt and prevented the country from being taken over by the FETO terror group.