Shocked medics found a bullet lodged in the back of a six-year-old girl after she complained she had been bitten by a bug.
Little Meliha Beray Ergun was playing in her apartment building’s garden in Seyhan, Turkey, on 28th July when she suddenly fell to the ground in agony.
As her parents came running, she screamed: “I think a bug bit my back, it hurts a lot.”
But when they rushed to nearby Adana City Training and Research Hospital, X-rays revealed she had a bullet lodged in her back.
The image – seen here – showed a bullet that seems dangerously close to Meliha’s spine.
Surgeons were able to remove what seems to be a rifle round in a delicate operation.
Meliha was allowed home after spending two days recovering in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Her worried parents have not told her she was shot to stop her from being too scared to leave the family home.
Her mum, Canan Ergun, told local media: “My daughter is only six years old, and I don’t know how she will adapt from now on.”
She told how her family hears gunshots every day in their neighbourhood, terrifying the children.
She told local media: “Can’t we even let our children play in the compound of our own building? Even the garden of the apartment complex is not safe.”
Canan believes Meliha was hit by a stray bullet fired during a celebration, which is illegal but commonplace in Turkey.
She told local media: “Unauthorised people should not use guns. They should not shoot guns for their pleasure.
“They should not use guns during celebrations. That’s what we want.
“I always used to hear and feel sad about such news, and now it has happened to us.”
Police have opened an investigation into the shooting.
