A small group of volunteer women, all mothers who have or had sick children or a relative undergoing treatment, takes pride in marking 25 years of serving patients at a hospital in the southern Turkish province of Antalya.
Known as “Yellow Angels” for their uniforms, the group both seeks to enliven the spirits of patients and their families while assisting them with their other needs at Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine Hospital.
Speaking at a visit to the university rector, professor Özlenen Özkan, the current leader of the volunteers, Önay Köroğlu, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that along with medical treatment, patients need something to lift their spirits and motivate them to fight their illnesses. “We work in shifts and start our work at 10 a.m. every day. Except for the psychiatry ward, we work in all wards of the hospitals, checking up on them, asking if they need anything. The hospital staff coordinates us and we try to do our best to help patients. In some cases, we organize charity sales to cover their financial needs,” she says.
Rector Özkan, a doctor herself, says she appreciates what the Yellow Angels do for patients. “I think mothers have more of an advantage than men when it comes to (empathizing with patients). They can bond with patients and their families easier. Yellow Angels really deserve appreciation for what they’ve done and you can see their compassion in their faces,” she said.
