A football team captain stopped a playoff match in Istanbul to perform CPR on a seagull struck by the goalkeeper’s clearance kick.
We see so much hate and violence in the news today. The Bible warned us this would come. In 2 Timothy 3:2, Paul wrote that in the last days, people will be “lovers of themselves.” And honestly, we see it everywhere.
People walk past someone struggling without a second glance. Compassion has become rare. Mercy feels almost old-fashioned. Most people are too caught up in their own world to notice — let alone care — about anyone else around them.
But these football players remind us that there is still kindness in this world when they stopped everything for a bird that couldn’t breathe.
It happened in the 22nd minute of the Istanbul 1st Amateur League Play-Off Final between Istanbul Yurdum Spor and Mevlanakapı Güzelhisar.
Goalkeeper Muhammed Uyanık hit a routine clearance. The ball caught a seagull flying low across the pitch. The bird fell hard.
Uyanık did not see it happen right away. He noticed something white drop from the sky and went closer. “I didn’t realize the ball had hit a bird. I felt very bad afterward. It affected me deeply. After all, it’s a living being,” he said.
Team captain Gani Çatan was already running toward it. The seagull was flat on the ground, not moving, not breathing. Çatan got down and started pressing on its chest. He kept going for two minutes straight.
No training, no instruction — just a man trying to keep a bird alive. “The first thing that came to my mind was heart massage because it couldn’t breathe, so I tried my luck,” he said.
Here is the part that really stays with you. Players from both teams walked over. Not one or two — players from both sides left their positions and came to see.
A championship playoff match, and grown men in football kits were standing in a circle around a seagull, just waiting. The live broadcast went quiet.
The presenter, Onur Ozsoy, said viewers flooded in with messages asking if the bird was okay. Nobody was watching the score anymore.
The seagull’s legs began to move. Then its eyes. Çatan handed it to the medical staff on the sideline. The bird had a damaged wing and could not fly, but it was walking. That was enough for now.
Istanbul Yurdum Spor lost the match. The championship was gone. Çatan was asked about it afterward and did not hesitate. “We missed out on the championship, but helping save a life is a good thing. This was more important than the championship,” he said.
WATCH: Football Players Pause Their Match to Save a Bird’s Life
