Local authorities lend hand to cancer patient, paralyzed wife in Turkey's Kayseri

Local authorities in the central Anatolian province of Kayseri announced they would provide aid for a local man who is a cancer patient and his paralyzed wife on Sept. 21.

The remarks came after media reports about 62-year-old Mehmet Cesaret, who has been a cancer patient for 15 years and has been taking his wife to the hospital in a wheelbarrow after she had a stroke.

Mayor of the Bünyan district of Kayseri, Şinasi Gülcüoğlu, said he wished he had been informed about the incident before.

Gülcüoğlu said they started a process for the hospitalization of paralyzed women and they would provide financial aid for the couple.

"Our district governor will compensate for their household needs. I wish they had informed us about their situation earlier. But now the couple will be entrusted with the Bünyan Municipality and our government will continue to be by your side for all your needs," he said.

Kayseri's Provincial Directorate of Health said they have started an inspection over the incident to relieve them of their needs.

Meanwhile, the Kayseri Governorate reacted to media reports about the sick couple, stating that Mehmet bringing Bircan Cesaret to the hospital in a wheelbarrow did not reflect reality.

The governorate office released a written statement on Sept. 21, remarking that pushing anyone in a wheelbarrow four kilometers was impossible. "Officials have visited the couple in their home and then hospitalized the paralyzed woman," said the statement.

"The neighbors have also express that the situation does not reflect reality. It was conceived that the news was fiction and deliberately prepared by some groups. The patient stated that the municipality responded to their needs and problems on time...