His family and doctors at a hospital thought 22-year-old Oğuzhan Çimen was drunk but a second opinion by another doctor explained why he was semiconscious for two days: there was a bullet lodged in his head.
Çimen is being treated at Balcalı hospital in Adana, the southern Turkish city he lived with his parents.
The young man was admitted to a clinic when his family found him semiconscious in his room. The family suspected he consumed too much alcohol and feared he would die. Doctors at the clinic agreed with them and told the family he was indeed drunk and discharged him from the clinic. Yet, he was still disoriented and barely communicated with his parents for two more days. The family finally decided to take him to a hospital and doctors there discovered a bullet wound in his head.
Dr. Eralp Çetinalp who is treating Çimen at the hospital, told reporters yesterday that the victim was unconscious when he was admitted to the hospital. "We found a bullet wound in the head and took him to the intensive care unit. His condition is still critical," Çetinalp said. "The family told us he was walking normally and [doctors at the clinic he was first taken to] thought he was likely to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs. His injury was so minor, under the skin of a very hairy area, so it was likely to be missed by an untrained eye," Çetinalp said.
It is not clear how Çimen got the bullet wound but police suspect it might be a stray bullet or a free falling bullet.
