Ekin-Su Culculoglu meets with Turkish orphans in heart-breaking trip after earthquake
‘She wanted me to stay and be her mother’: Tearful Ekin-Su Culculoglu meets Turkish orphans on a heartbreaking journey to her homeland after a devastating earthquake
Ekin-Su Culculoglu has detailed the moment when she met Turkish orphans on a heartbreaking journey to her homeland after the devastating earthquake.
Born in London, the 28-year-old Love Island winner previously lived in Istanbul for two years and holds Turkish nationality.
During a visit to the southern province of Hatay with the British Red Cross, Ekin-Su helped prepare food for those in need and attended a child psychology session.
She tearfully explained how a little girl “asked her to be her mom” and admitted that she “wished he could take them all home.”
Speak against The mirror during the trip, the reality TV star explained, “She [the child] wanted me to stay and be her mother because she lost hers.”
Horrible: Ekin-Su Culculoglu, 28, described the moment she met Turkish orphans during a heartbreaking journey to her homeland after the devastating earthquake (pictured this week in London)
Ekin-Su continued, “I couldn’t hold back my tears. It felt very overwhelming. Some of the other children had also lost relatives.
“I wish I could have taken them to England with me. They feel alone and need love and support.’
Last month, Ekin-Su said she was devastated after a horrific earthquake hit parts of Turkey and Syria and revealed she plans to visit the affected area.
The Love Island star also explained that part of her extended family has become involved in the disaster.
During an interview with Women’s health magazinepraised Ekin-Su’s friend Davide Sanclimenti for supporting her during the emotional period.
Ekin-Su, who met in the 2022 Love Island series and won, said, “Davide has been amazingly supportive of me emotionally. I was with him when we heard it and I just couldn’t comprehend the devastation.
“I’ve been following the news since it hit… I hope to visit the affected area with the Red Cross as soon as it’s safe.”
Born in Islington, London, to Turkish parents Sezer and Zekai, Ekin-Su lived in Istanbul while starring in Turkish television shows, before returning to the UK.
Disturbing: She tearfully explained how a little girl “asked her to be her mother” and admitted she “wished he could take them all home”
Horror: Her comments come after officials said 9,057 people had been killed in Turkey (pictured: Hatay city center) and 2,662 in Syria from Monday’s magnitude 7.8 earthquake, bringing the total to 11,719
Her parents moved to the UK and she also has a younger brother Arda.
The death toll from the Turkey-Syria earthquake has risen to 11,719 — officials say 9,057 people have died in Turkey and 2,662 in Syria — making it the deadliest seismic event in more than a decade.
It is more than the magnitude 7.8 earthquake in Nepal in 2015, which killed more than 8,800 people.
Officials say the death toll could double if experts’ worst fears come true, bringing the death toll close to the Richter-scale 9 earthquake off Japan that killed nearly 20,000 people in 2011 came.