Polish volleyball player saved. He spent three days in the destroyed Turkish city

Krystian Walczak will remember the past 10 days for a very long time. His volleyball fairy tale turned into a nightmare. He played in the first league BAS Białystok, but became a player of Hatay Buyuksehir Belediyespor and last Monday he reached Turkey. On Sunday he made a successful debut, but several hours later – due to the tragic earthquake and aftershocks – the joy of the game faded into the background. The 21-year-old did not leave the destroyed Antioch, the club’s headquarters, until late Wednesday evening. But now he is safe.

Mateusz Mika helps two injured Polish volleyball players

For several days, Adrianna Grabowska and her associates have been appealing for help in reaching Walczak. When the earthquake struck, the young volleyball player was returning from an away match with the rest of his friends. The coach with the players was unable to enter the city due to the damage. Bartosz Bućko jumped out then and ran to look for his wife and less than one year old son. The other Pole stayed with his friends, who then started to disperse. He stayed with a small group at the clubhouse.

– The structure of the building has been damaged, but it is stable enough to stop there. They’re doing fine, but they’re cold. It’s about 0 degrees Celsius, snowing, and they don’t have electricity. Apart from them, there is practically no living soul there. There are no emergency services in sight. Entry and exit is not possible. They are practically on their own, the head of Brave Volley told us on Wednesday. Both Walczak and Bućko are associated with this agency.

Social media turned out to be helpful in this situation. This way, the woman was instructed to contact Miłosz Wieczorek, who lives in Mersin and has been helping the victims since Monday. On Wednesday, late in the evening, he managed to reach Walczak.

– Then we managed to efficiently put Krystian on the bus going to Ankara. It is due to arrive there any moment, and then Mateusz Mika will take care of it, reports Grabowska.

She hasn’t had a chance to talk to Walczak yet after getting out of the destroyed city. She will succeed when he joins Mika. The former Polish representative is a player of the Tursad club and lives in Ankara. Bućko and his family arrived on Wednesday.

– We are waiting for a signal from Bartek as to how the matter of dealing with temporary documents will look like. Maybe it will work out that together with Krystian they will return to Poland. When Bartek lets you know, then we will act on the purchase of air tickets. We have the help of the Polish Volleyball Association here – emphasizes Grabowska.

Already on Wednesday, she left no illusions about the near future of Antioch. – We will not see volleyball there too soon. 70-80 percent of the city is destroyed, she noted.

A state of emergency has been introduced in 10 Turkish provinces. More than 11,000 people have died in Monday’s earthquake and aftershocks across the country and Syria, according to current figures.