WATCH: Why entire neighbourhood learns sign language - to 'speak' with deaf man

This article is more than 12 months old

Mar 13, 2015 12:25 pm

He thought he was going for a regular walk on Dec 28 with his sister, Ozlem.

But little did Muharrem Yazgan, who is hearing impaired, know that he was in for a very emotional surprise.

The people in Yazgan's neighbourhood in Istanbul, Turkey, learnt sign language just to communicate with him.

The resulting sequence of events was captured on video, as part of a move to promote Samsung's message for its new hearing impaired video call centre: "A world without barriers is our dream".

The young man encountered strangers during the walk, who met and spoke to him in sign language.

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While his sister was aware of why people were doing so (and how the entire walk was secretly filmed), Yazgan on the other hand was confused that many people were talking to him in sign.

Understanding dawned only when he saw an electronic advertising board that Samsung set up in the public square, which explained everything.

That's the moment when his friends started showing up and a visibly touched Yazgan teared up.