Patient Experience
My 82-year-old mother, Ayşe, fell in our Istanbul apartment, and we feared the worst—a hip fracture. The ambulance brought us to Acıbadem Altunizade, where Dr. Fatih Coşkun took charge. What struck me wasn't just his swift diagnosis (a complex femoral neck fracture), but how he spoke directly to my mother, calming her panic in her native Kurdish dialect. He explained the urgent surgery to us in simple terms, coordinating with orthopedics within the hour. Post-surgery, he visited her daily, checking not just the wound, but her spirit. He's more than a trauma surgeon; he's a healer who sees the person, not just the injury. My mother is walking again, and we owe that to his decisive, compassionate care.
Our 7-year-old son, Deniz, swallowed a small toy battery during a family dinner. Pure terror. We raced to the emergency room. Dr. Coşkun met us at the door, his calm demeanor instantly lowering the room's temperature. While I was nearly hysterical, he had a pediatric endoscopy team assembled in minutes. He showed us the X-ray, pointing out the battery's position with a laser pointer, explaining the risks without sugarcoating yet without inciting more fear. The procedure was a success. During follow-up, he knelt to talk to Deniz at eye level, giving him a 'bravery certificate.' He managed a pediatric emergency with the precision of a scientist and the heart of a father.
I'm a long-distance runner, and what I thought was a routine ankle sprain from a trail run turned into a nightmare of swelling and discoloration. At a local clinic, they missed it. At Acıbadem Altunizade, Dr. Coşkun took one look and ordered an immediate vascular ultrasound. He diagnosed acute compartment syndrome—a limb-threatening emergency. His voice was firm, urgent: 'We need to operate now.' The fasciotomy he performed saved my leg and likely my running career. His follow-up has been meticulous; he texts me photos of similar cases (anonymized) to explain my healing stages. This wasn't a checkup; it was a rescue mission led by a detective-doctor who spots the hidden crisis.
Following a major motorcycle accident on the TEM highway, I was brought in with multiple traumas: broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a severe head contusion. The chaos was overwhelming. Dr. Coşkun was the conductor of a symphony of specialists. I remember flashes—his voice cutting through my haze, telling me exactly what he was doing as he inserted a chest tube. He didn't just treat the injuries; he managed the entire systemic shock. For weeks in the ICU, he was my fixed point, explaining each step to my family in whiteboard diagrams. His approach is military in its efficiency yet profoundly human. He fought for my life in that trauma bay, and his relentless, organized vigilance is why I'm here to write this.