From a heart attack to cirrhosis, from kidney ailments to heart spasms… Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, who made a homeland in his life, was also exhausted day by day. He left us a whole Republic after his struggle.
Atatürk, who has been constantly fighting diseases since childhood, had many ailments until his last breath. It is known that there are very serious health problems as well as simple ailments known as seasonal diseases.
Atatürk experienced the first trauma after his brothers died.
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s first serious illness, who lost 4 of his siblings, was diphtheria and bird scapula at a young age. He survived these diseases that caused the death of his brothers. Again, malaria, which he caught at a young age, followed him throughout his life.
He caught malaria while he was studying at the Manastır Military High School. Malaria, which was deadly at that time, destroyed Mustafa Kemal’s immunity.
A discomfort appeared in his eyes in Tripoli Benghazi.
On December 8, 1911, with the title of Major, Mustafa Kemal was on duty in Tripoli. He was injured in the eye during the 16-17 January 1912 attack and continued his treatment in the hospital. The limestone that fell into his eye left permanent vision damage in his left eye for the rest of his life.
As can be seen in some close-up photographs, especially in which Atatürk’s eyes are drawn attention, this glaciation occurred as a result of his accident.
When the piece of shrapnel that hit his chest at the Çanakkale Front hit his heart, malaria relapsed.
A piece of shrapnel from a bomb in Conkbayırı in 1914-1915 hit his heart. Colonel Mustafa Kemal uses the following expressions for this event he lived through: “August 10, 1915, hearing that I was shot could have caused panic on all fronts. The watch that was in my pocket above my heart was shattered. I fought more fiercely at the head of the troops until the evening that day. Only this shrapnel, this shrapnel in my body, left my heart in my heart. It left a deep blood stain on it that did not go away for months. On the same night, that is, on August 10, I gave my watch, which saved me from absolute death and shattered, to the commander of the army, Liman von Sanders Pasha, as a souvenir.”
He also had a chronic kidney disease.
Atatürk, who was fighting malaria during the Battle of Çanakkale, also had kidney disease. In 1917, Major General Mustafa Kemal went to Vienna where he was treated for a while.
On top of all this, ear eczema also appeared.
Ear eczema, which he had experienced since childhood, relapsed in Bursa in 1926 and he had ear infections for a while. This was one of the conditions that negatively affected Mustafa Kemal’s health.
He always struggled with malaria during the National Struggle.
Major General Mustafa Kemal Pasha’s kidney disease reappeared in Samsun. Then he had a seizure during the Sivas Congress. General Harbord, the President of the American Delegation, whom he met in Sivas on September 20, 1919, said about Atatürk, “He used to wear rosaries all the time.
During the War of Independence, three ribs were broken.
On August 12, 1921, while he was going down to the front for the War of Independence, his ribs were broken when the horse he was on was startled and threw himself. He had to return to the front before the bones fully healed and continued his struggle for the homeland.
He proclaimed the Republic, suffered a heart attack two days later.
He suffered a heart attack the day after he declared the Republic in 1923. Having eaten at the Çankaya Mansion, Atatürk could not get up when he fell ill at the table, and Doctor Refik Saydam had to treat himself on the spot. His crisis confirmed that fatigue and stress were triggered.
The heart attack had not left the Great Leader. Two days later he had another attack. This time, Atatürk, who was caught in a crisis in the garden of the mansion, fell to the ground while playing with his dog Fox. Atatürk, who is said to have consumed a lot of coffee and cigarettes, also broke the smoking bans imposed on him. He had his first heart attack at the age of 42.
While preparing the Speech in May 1927, he was again caught in a heart attack.
While he was preparing the Speech, which he told about the period of the War of Independence, he experienced his third crisis. Despite the early intervention, we know that Atatürk suffered a lot in this crisis and it was difficult to calm down. It continued to recur as spasm in the following times.
Although doctors were brought from abroad and special diets were applied, it is said that Atatürk did not stick to the programs very much. As he opened his eyes one day in November 1936, he felt a high fever and severe chills. Then he was diagnosed with pneumonia and was treated for 5 days.
The first diagnosis of cirrhosis was made in 1938.
Feeling itching on his body on a winter day in 1938, Atatürk went to Yalova to be treated at the spa and was examined by Bursa Spa Director Doctor Nihat Reşat Belger. The first diagnosis of cirrhosis was given by Belger.
Belger explains this situation as follows: “In my manual examination, I realized that his liver had grown by three fingers. I said that the itching was related to eating and drinking. These words had a surprise effect on Atatürk, who had never been told about his liver disease until that day. But he said, ‘Now what? we will do?’ she said. She understood what I meant by eating and drinking. I said she had to start fasting right away. I gave her a powder to ease her itching.”
He had written his will before he fell into a coma.
Atatürk, who set off for the last time from Ankara to Istanbul on May 26, 1938, had lost his health and was exhausted by September 1938. Realizing his situation, he wrote his will on September 5, 1938. French Doctor Fissenger, who came to Dolmabahçe Palace, took 6 liters of water from Atatürk’s stomach that day. On October 16, 1938, he fell into a severe coma. Atatürk, who spent his last days in Dolmabahçe Palace, did not respond to the treatments, no matter what was done.
He said goodbye to us in the morning hours of November 10, 1938. The Republic, which he proudly raised on his chest as a result of his heroic struggles, remained. We would like to express our gratitude to the Great Leader Atatürk and his comrades in arms, who ensured our independence and gifted us the August 30 Victory.
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