M.D. Rakan Mohammad Thalji Awwad

As a competitive freediver training off the Bodrum coast, I suffered a shallow-water blackout and was rushed to the medical center. Dr. Awwad recognized the specific pulmonary and neurological risks immediately, not just treating the near-drowning but managing the delayed complications that emerged hours later. His knowledge of pressure-related injuries saved me from permanent lung damage.

My 4-year-old daughter swallowed a rare-earth magnet from a toy, followed by another one an hour later. Dr. Awwad didn't just order an X-ray; he explained the specific danger of intestinal perforation from magnetic attraction through tissue walls. He coordinated with pediatric surgery for a minimally invasive procedure, calming our panic with precise facts about the timeline of risk.

During a severe Bodrum storm, a falling palm tree branch impaled my thigh. Dr. Awwad's trauma team worked in what felt like controlled chaos. He made the critical decision not to remove the object in the ER but to take me directly to surgery, explaining that it was acting as a tamponade. That judgment prevented catastrophic hemorrhage.

I'm a retired chemistry teacher who accidentally created toxic chlorine gas while cleaning at home. Dr. Awwad treated my chemical pneumonitis with unusual precision, consulting toxicology databases for specific antidotes and monitoring for the delayed pulmonary edema he warned might appear 24 hours later. His proactive approach stopped a second-wave crisis.