Erdem from Pedro’s Cafe with his daughter Ayse

By JENNIFER THOMPSON CHATBURN

A CAFE owner has thanked his regulars who helped his family raise more than £60,000 in under a fortnight for his daughter’s life-saving surgery.

Erdem Cakir, 47, who runs Pedro’s Café in Kentish Town Road, had set up an online fundraiser in November to help pay for an operation needed to remove a tumour from his 15 year-old daughter, Ayse.

It was highly complex surgery only performed by a world-renowned consultant in his homeland of Turkey.

“Reaching the required amount in such an unbelievably short time deeply moved us and reminded us that we are not alone,” he said.

“During this very hard period for our family, they lifted the financial burden from our shoulders. No amount of thanks would be enough”.

Following initial brain surgery last September, Ayse had been diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of bone cancer, chondrosarcoma.

Mr Cakir said: “When it’s your daughter’s health on the line, things like mindfulness and meditation don’t really reach the pain.”

He had posted online about how “taste or colour – every worry we had before – has suddenly disappeared and only one remains”.

Mr Cakir said that during his daughter’s first operation doctors were unable to remove the entire tumour because it was so close to the brain, and traditional radiotherapy was not an option.

He sought out the help of Dr Urgur Ture, the honorary president of the World Federation of Neurosurgery Societies, from Yeditepe University Hospital in Turkey, who specialised in the technique.

Mr Cakir compared the consultant at work to a “magician who performs a miracle, fully aware of the impact, quietly leaving the stage without waiting for applause”.

He was back at the café when the New Journal dropped in on a busy Monday afternoon.

Erdem at the cafe with  Conor Ellis

Regulars were enjoying fry-ups and roast lunches, with soft jazz playing in the background.

Mr Cakir has run several donation days at his business with coffee sales going to international causes, like the 2024 earthquake in Turkey or to help people in Ukraine following the Russia invasion.

“I tell my workers to imagine we have a massive kitchen and that people are coming to our house,” he said.

“Open the door and welcome them like they are your people, your mum, brother, sister. It’s not just a place people come to eat – I get to know people. It’s like reading books, every day you can meet someone new and they somehow tell the most intimate details of their lives.”

He added: “I love what I do at the café because I guess I’ve become a better person by hearing lots of things over the years, you know?

“This café is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever done.”

Conor Ellis, a regular at the café encouraged Mr Cakir to set up Ayse’s Go Fund Me page.

“I thought even if we could just raise a drop in the ocean it would be worth it,” he said.

“I’ve been coming here for years. It’s no wonder with all the traffic that comes into Pedro’s, but it was surreal how quick it all built.”

Mr Cakir personally messaged every donor to say thank you.

Any funds raised over the £60,000 crowdfunder target will go towards a gift for Ayse as she recovers.  https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-ayse-receive-her-lifesaving-second-brain-surgery