Irem Isitmen Akinci is a thirty four year old woman from Istanbul, Turkey. She is married to Burak Akinci and they have lovely twin three year old daughters. They live in Monroe, North Carolina and operate La Vida Mocha Coffee Shop. What you may not know is that Irem suffers from a disease that causes tumors to form on the brain.
Irem started feeling bad and began to suffer from weekly seizures. The seizures increased in frequency and began to occur daily, and often times several times per day. She had no medical insurance in the United States, and so returned to Turkey for treatment.
Irem now has eight tumors on her brain. She has undergone treatment with a gamma knife, which has hopefully shank some of the tumors. Two were unaffected and need to be treated with the gamma knife again. Although Irem has medical insurance in Turkey, there is a tremendous deductible. The first surgery left about $25000 not covered by insurance. The second surgery will be cheaper, but will cost her out of pocket another $8000, and she is now being told there may be two more surgeries necessary.
Beginning the week of August 8, 2011, raffle tickets will be available at La Vida Mocha in Monroe, N.C. The tickets cost $25.00 each. The grand prize is a diamond ring Appraised at $6700 by Perry's Fine Jewelers at Southpark Mall. Second and Third prize winners will each receive a handmade Turkish rug. The forth prize winner will receive two princess pitchers. These are handmade and hand painted with gold parts all over. They are made in Turkey. There's a stopper on top to make it use it a liquor server. It is very elegant and worth at least $500. The fifth prize winner will receive a cesm-i bulbul . It is a crystal picture with six glasses. These are an Ottoman tradition, and very hard to find. They are handmade and blown
"To me, priceless," says Irem.
We will need Irem's friends to help sell the tickets. Please check back soon to view pictures of the prizes and the diamond ring appraisal. If you can help sell tickets contact Burak at La Vida Mocha, or Joe Williams on Facebook. Thank you for your help.
