Former TV Host and political candidate Dr. Oz is in Turkey providing disaster relief to communities devastated by the Feb. 6 earthquake.
Dr. Oz has provided support to rescue workers and victims in Hatay province, a southern province bordering Syria where thousands have been pronounced dead and entire neighborhoods destroyed from the earthquake. (RELATED: US Troops Deployed To Turkey To Assist After Earthquake)
I have traveled to the site of the earthquake in Turkey to meet w/volunteers, first responders, & hospitals to help identify key needs on the ground as they evolve. Here in the port city of Iskenderun, there are ships equipped to be hospitals that are taking care of the injured. pic.twitter.com/Dq8Ppaodl5
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) February 18, 2023
The area was hit by a 6.3 magnitude earthquake Monday, killing at least six and exacerbating the damage by the initial quake, according to Reuters. An estimated 46,000 people have died and more than a million are homeless as a result of the Feb. 6 disaster, Turkey’s worst earthquake in modern history.
Dr. Oz began chronicling his relief efforts in a Feb. 17 tweet and the following day, he conducted an interview with Turkish outlet AA. “Even in this horrible moment, I see hope everywhere I turn,” Oz told AA. “Just today, I witnessed a man, who had been under this rubble for 300 hours, got pulled out, and he’s gonna survive, I’m confident.”
He was referring to Samir Mohammed Ajjar, who was rescued from the rubble Feb. 18, 296 hours after the earthquake. Dr. Oz visited Ajjar at a hospital in Hatay, where he also met with other earthquake victims, as part of his work supporting first responders. He believes visiting Turkey has made him a better spokesperson for fundraising on behalf of the earthquake victims.
“A lot of the work can be done remotely, but you have to actually go see yourself because I couldn’t imagine what I would have seen here, the massive impact of this earthquake,” Oz said. “And once you are here and you see it firsthand, you’ll never forget it.”
