Hi, my name is Sue and I am fundraising on behalf of my dear friend Laura Ferdenzi Bulut. Laura has unfortunately suffered a rather catastrophic change of life over the last 4 years which has led to this appeal being made.

Laura was born & bred in London and whilst on holiday in Turkey in 2002, she met her future husband Ersin and they married in January 2003. They live in Kalkan in South-West Turkey and both work in the tourist industry, overseeing holiday rentals and managing Villas.

Their son Emre was born in 2006 and their daughter Ela was born in 2010. They were a very happy family until in February 2019, Ersin was tragically killed in a car accident. He had left the house saying he would be home for dinner in half an hour, but 45 minutes later, Laura had a call saying there had been an accident. Ersin had picked up 2 friends; Ersin and 1 other died and the other was injured. Upon recovery, he claimed he could not remember what happened. Ersin was a very good driver and this remains a mystery to this day.

Laura and the children were of course in shock and grief-stricken by Ersin’s death, Ersin was buried within 24 hours of his death as is customary in Turkey and whilst trying to come to terms with her loss, she was given some very poor advice when she needed to access their money which was in his bank account; by doing so she had unknowingly taken probate. Laura employed a lawyer to try to overturn probate but this was unsuccessful. The family of the passenger who was killed, along with the other injured friend, submitted claims for spiritual damages (as is permitted in Turkey) from insurance companies which meant that Laura was liable for any claim against Ersin. These claims were settled by the insurance company who subsequently took Laura to Court to recover the money paid out to the surviving passenger and family of the deceased passenger. Laura engaged a lawyer to fight this case, which has recently been heard and the decision went in favour of the insurance company. The case was lost because the car had been stored in a workshop nearby and the owner subsequently requested payment for storing the car and Laura had to sell the car for scrap to cover the storage costs, but this meant that she had used probate; this was the basis for the Court finding in favour of the Insurance Company.

Through no fault of her own, whilst still grieving for her husband and the father of her children, because of the Court case she finds herself with a debt of approximately £55,000; Emre & Ela are also liable for the debt as the legal system in Turkey dictates; should it not be paid, interest will continue to accrue on the debt the longer time goes on. Suddenly becoming a widow with 2 young children, she has worked incredibly hard to keep her family afloat, but with legal fees to pay, becoming a single income family, with very little income caused by the global pandemic with no financial support, the last 4 years have been incredibly hard. She has exhausted her savings and has absolutely no hope of paying this debt. Most distressing for her is the fact that the children are facing a start in life with a huge debt hanging over them.

If you feel able to donate even the smallest amount to help Laura try to resolve this very stressful situation, so that she, Emre & Ela can have some semblance of a normal life, this would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in anticipation.