A football fan who had a massive heart attack while watching his team play has pledged to stay calmer in future after his loyal dog followed him to hospital and then waited outside for two weeks as he recovered.
Mehmet Cakmak, 81, who lives in the Altinordu district in the north-eastern Turkish province of Ordu, had a heart attack while watching the HES Kablo Kayserispor-Galatasaray football match at his home on March 13.
His son Metin Cakmak, whose age was not given, said that his father was a massive Galatasaray fan.
He said: “My father thought that Galatasaray played badly in the first half of the match, and he was outraged.
“At the end of the match, Galatasaray won, but my father had a heart attack.”
Emergency medical teams rushed to the property after getting a call from his family, and they managed to resuscitate him 20 minutes after his heart had stopped.
Afterwards Mehmet was taken to the Ordu State Hospital and was immediately operated on and then taken to intensive care.
“He stayed there for 14 days,” his son added.
“Pamuk his dog came with us and had to wait outside, but when we came home he refused to leave, and waited outside the hospital for the whole 14 days.”
The loyal dog, who did not leave the hospital throughout the two weeks that its owner was inside, attracted the attention of healthcare professionals who provided him with snacks and water during his vigil.
He was also there to greet his owner when he was finally released and taken back home.
Pamuk has since taken up residence in his owner’s bedroom alongside his bed as he continues to recover.
It comes just two months after another loyal dog spent weeks waiting for her owner to recuperate in a Turkish hospital.
Cemal Senturk was taken to the Medical Park Trabzon Karadeniz Hospital on January 14 with unspecified health problems.
His pooch Boncuk patiently waited for him in front of the hospital entrance for an entire week.
Senturk’s daughter Aynur Egeli said the family attempted to take the dog home multiple times, but she stubbornly returned to the hospital each time.