Turkish Soccer Player Saves Seagull Using CPR

An amateur soccer match in Istanbul was interrupted last week when a low-flying seagull collided with the ball and crumbled to the field in an unconscious heap. Yurdum Spor's team captain, Gani Catan, astonished everyone by performing CPR chest compressions on the stunned bird until it was revived.

“Something was falling and I realized it was a seagull,” Catan told state news agency Anadolu. “The first thing that came to my mind was heart massage, because it couldn't breathe, so I tried my luck.”

Catan said he had not received any formal health or first-aid training, and that his intervention to save the animal was pure reflex. He applied chest compressions for about two minutes, until movement returned to the bird’s legs and eyes. He then carried the revived seagull to the sideline and handed it over to the team’s medical staff.

TV commentator Onur Ozsoy described the action on the air: “They're doing chest compressions on the seagull right now, this is a moment rarely seen in football history! The seagull is being carried off, he's been taken to the sidelines with the medical bag where his treatment will continue.”

The seagull reportedly suffered a damaged wing but otherwise survived the collision. The game resumed and Catan’s team lost, dropping them out of playoff contention. Normally this would be devastating in the life-or-death struggle that is European football, but the players were mostly sanguine in defeat.

“We missed out on the championship, but it’s a wonderful thing to have helped save a life,” said Catan. “This was more important than the championship.”

Watch the bird-ball collision and its aftermath here.

Photo credit: Turkiye Today via YouTube