Earlier this month, a series of massive and devastating earthquakes rocked the nation of Turkey, killing more than 50,000 people in total as buildings collapsed and people were trapped and crushed by rubble. It’s been a heartbreaking situation all around as the country mourns and recovers, but during a soccer match this weekend, we saw quite an incredible display of humans coming together for a greater purpose.
Fans attending Sunday’s match between Beşiktaş and Antalyaspor of the Turkish Super Lig brought several stuffed toys to the match.
The game stopped at four minutes and 17 seconds to correspond with the time the earthquake struck southeastern Turkey – 4:17 a.m. local time on February 6 – and fans throughout the stadium collectively threw the toys onto the field as one massive donation to child earthquake victims.
It was an absolutely touching scene after such a difficult time in the country.
As the stuffed toys continued to rain down from the stands, players from both squads assisted in picking the toys up and piling them up on the sidelines to be collected for donation.
The video has since gone totally viral, with people from all across the world reacting to the touching moment.
While it’s impossible to determine exactly how many toys were donated, it’s quite clear that there were thousands thrown onto the pitch.
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