Ghana midfielder Priscilla Okyere is frightened of going to rest, scared that one more quake may take place when she remains in bed. The 27-year-old bet Hatayspor in southerly Turkey and also is a survivor of the damaging quake that struck there on Monday.
The quake is currently thought about the most awful worldwide in a years. So much it is recognized to have actually eliminated over 20,000 individuals in Turkey and also Syria – a toll that will absolutely climb.
Hatayspor is the club whose males’s group Okyere’s compatriot Christian Atsu bets. Atsu, in addition to the club’s showing off supervisor Taner Savut, stays absent.
“I have not been sleeping for four days – I’m so scared to go to sleep,” Okyere informed BBC Sport Africa.
“Even today, we had a refuge to rest. I have not shut my eyes from 5am til currently.
“When someone bangs the door, I wake up because I’m scared. I don’t want to close my eyes and realise this thing is happening again.”
Priscilla Okyere has actually been playing worldwide football for Ghana for over a years
Okyere is currently in Ankara, Turkey’s funding after her train scheduled her and also her 7 roomies to leave Hatay after the quake.
But the challenge left her marked.
“I was terrified. I cried for days,” she discussed.
“I can’t imagine how lucky we were to get out of that situation because most people couldn’t get out. But we were able to.”
Okyere signed up with Hatayspor 6 months back from the Israeli club Tel-Aviv Beersheva
Like lots of people that reside in southerly Turkey, the club’s gamers had actually really felt shakes prior to. So when the quake struck in the very early hrs of Monday, she thought it was typical.
“We were originating from a video game in Istanbul and also we weren’t residence till around 2am,” she claimed.
“We needed to shower and after that obtain some rest. At initially, I believed I was fantasizing due to the fact that considering that we concerned Hatay, I experienced (shakes) it 2 times. Sometimes the structure would certainly simply drink within 30 secs and also it quits.
“When it took place, I believed it was a typical point yet I understood this was far more extreme than the previous ones.”
Priscilla Okyere has actually gone to Hatayspor for 6 months
She mosted likely to examine her colleagues and after that rushed outdoors as throughout her started to collapse.
“When I came down, the structures were simply falling down, and also everyone was sobbing, searching for sanctuary,” she claimed.
“It was drizzling greatly outdoors, and also everybody was cool. We were not putting on any type of coats – absolutely nothing. We had actually gone outdoors barefoot.
“We weren’t also considering exactly how cool we went to that minute. What we wished to consider was exactly how to obtain our keys.
“We had to find a shelter in someone’s car for almost five hours before the whole thing calmed down, and then we were able to go back to the house.”
Though severely harmed, the structure Okyere and also her colleagues stayed in had actually not broken down. But they needed to leave the location, and also with all public transportation put on hold, they roamed the roads seeking food.
They were right away worried that there was no chance to enter call with their family members back home, also as information started to strain to the broader globe of the quake.
“The first thing that came into my mind was my mother because she’s always worried about where I am and always want to know what is going on,” Okyere claimed.
“But we could not interact straight with our household due to the fact that all the networks were not functioning.
“But you could call within Turkey, So I spoke to my agent, and I gave him my mother’s number so he could to talk with her and make sure that everything is okay.”
Okyere’s compatriot Christian Atsu bets Hatayspor’s males’s group and also stays absent
Eventually, Okyere and also her colleagues had the ability to leave Hatay.
While she and also her colleagues are secure, she claimed issue stays for various other participants of the broader Hatayspor club, consisting of the males’s group and also authorities.
“We do not recognize anything regarding the males’s group due to the fact that they live much from us, despite the fact that we reside in the exact same city,” she discussed.
“But our bro (Christian) Atsu, we constantly speak to him on phone. He messages all of us the moment.
“Since the incident happened, nobody knows his whereabouts. We don’t even know what is happening.”
Okyere claimed she is attempting to continue to be favorable despite all the destruction, and also her largest desire today is to go residence to Ghana to invest a long time with her household.
“For Hatayspor our period mores than due to the fact that the city is damaged,” she claimed.
“For monitoring, we do not recognize anything regarding their location. So for us, we understand that for the males and also the ladies, the period mores than.
“We will certainly attempt to try to find one more club due to the fact that I believe that a lot of clubs are likewise curious about some gamers fromHatayspor I believe ideally possibly we will certainly obtain something.
“For me, the only thing that is in my mind right now is I just want to go back to Ghana. At least have one week or two weeks rest with the family.”
Source: BBC Africa
