Min-Fadhli-Rabii
Junior Member
:salam2:
Amputees suffer, disfigured cling to last hope
Cries of Gaza’s wounded persist in Egypt
Gaza’s wounded in Cairo
Lives cut short
Lingering injuries of war
25-year-old Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz's face has been disfigured by Shrapnel in the latest offensive on Gaza
CAIRO/DUBAI (Marwa Awad, Courtney Radsch)
As the Israeli offensive on Gaza entered it’s 19th day Muhammed Yaqub Hasan Ali decided to brave the falling bombs and tank shells to forage for food to feed his seven children and his seven-month pregnant wife. But as he stepped out a rocket hit him, destroying his legs. His wife miscarried.
“My children were starving after being trapped in the house for 10 days. I decided to go out on Jan. 15 to look for some food. The shelling started while I was out and suddenly a rocket fell at my feet and as you can see I no longer have them,” Muhammed said in a matter-of-fact tone.
The 35-year-old lay immobile on his hospital bed in Cairo’s Hilal hospital, both legs amputated, one above his knee and the other just below it. He had also lost hearing in his right ear because of the shelling that pounded Gaza throughout the war.
Although the Israeli offensive may be over the scale of the injuries and physical toll is just becoming known as hundreds of Gaza’s wounded continued to arrive in Egypt’s hospitals Sunday, unable to get adequate care in Gaza’s hospitals, some of which were bombed during Israeli raids and most of which remain in dire need of even the most basic medical supplies after weeks of a near-total blockade.
The 22-day Israeli war that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead also injured more than 5,000 people, according to Gaza. Amputated limbs, multiple bone fractures and severe burns from chemical weapons like white phosphorous have become the calling card of Israel’s 22-day invasion.
In the first of a three-part series, AlArabiya.net investigates the human toll of the war and the individuals who make up the devastating statistics.
Gaza’s wounded in Cairo
Muhammed Ali lost his limbs the day he braved the bombs to fetch food for his starving family
Muhammad had an almost nonchalant air about him, as if he did not care what happened to him now that he is an amputee and has lost his unborn child. The constant war and lack of security, he said, have made death and the loss of basic things an everyday occurrence.
“What am I to say? Losing a limb is now like losing your wallet or car keys. Everything is game in Gaza,” he said, adding that he was hit twice more after the initial strike hit his car.
“The first attack came suddenly, but it was followed by a second one and a third one. What are they bombing again for? Can’t they see the car is already on fire, and I am on the ground in pieces? The enemy is ruthless,” he said.
" The wounds we have seen range from severe bone fractures to amputations to cases where parts of the flesh are missing due to explosions "
Dr. Michael Magdi GoudaDoctors dashed in and out of patients’ rooms on the ninth floor of Hilal hospital in downtown Cairo where 110 Palestinian patients from Gaza were seeking treatment for injuries caused by Israeli bombs, bullets and shells.
Doctors described the injuries as overwhelming despite the fact that most cases have been stabilized and now await follow-up surgeries and care.
“The wounds we have seen range from severe bone fractures to amputations to cases where parts of the flesh are missing due to explosions,” Dr. Michael Magdi Gouda told AlArabiya.net.
Ambulances at Rafah border transport Palestinian victims of war from Rafah to Cairo
“However the recurrence of the cases is overwhelmingly sad. It makes the doctors and surgeons here very determined to save these victims,” he added.
Experts note that catastrophic injuries have long-term psychological effects and can destroy a person's ability to earn a living, exasperating the social effects and putting strain on the family and community.
Lives cut short
Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz flashes the victory sign as he lay in hospital bed
Masad Nidal Fathi, a 28-year-old plumber, is but one of the cases that has tested the doctor’s skills. A series of nerve operations await Fathi, who lost his sense of touch in his upper left side of his body.
As he waited in the surgery room for his third operation since Dec. 31, his brother Hamed stood nearby with his cousin.
“Nidal was hit by a bomb while driving on Dec. 31 in Gaza. He lost his right arm, and his right foot as a result,” Hamed told AlArabiya.net. “Part of his stomach (outer flesh) is gone, so he is undergoing plastic surgery as we speak.”
Down the hall was 25-year-old Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz, whose face has been completely disfigured by shrapnel that sliced every inch of his face, including his eyes, and his lower body following an Israeli bombing on Jan. 5.
“He was at home when a bomb hit the house next door. Ahmed and others went out to help the wounded and pull the bodies of whose who got buried under the rubble. As they worked, another shelling took place and this time, it was Ahmed’s turn,” Ahmed’s uncle, Tawfiq Othman, told AlArabiya.net as he struggled to hold back tears.
" They first removed the shrapnel from his face and the ones that covered his body and then patched his face, which as you can see is ripped apart in different areas "
Tawfiq Othman, uncle of victimAhmed was immediately taken to al-Shifaa hospital in Gaza for basic intensive care treatment, and after two days he was transferred to Cairo for surgery.
He was in a coma for one week and awoke only to discover that he had lost his right eye and was nearly blinded in the other.
“They first removed the shrapnel from his face and the ones that covered his body and then patched his face, which as you can see is ripped apart in different areas,” Othman said pointing to Ahmed’s disfigured face.
A glimpse of hope remained as Ahmed discovered that his remaining eye could sense strong pulses of light and make out shadows.
“I can see the camera flash with my eye!” he told AlArabiya.net. “I can see the light!”
Ahmed’s uncle said his nephew is due for a cornea transplant next month in hopes of restoring his eyesight.
“He is desperate to see flashes of light, his eye can sense the light pulses and that gives him hope,” he explained.
Lingering injuries of war
Ahmed Saad lost three of his limbs and fingers of his right hand in another Israeli Gaza
Twenty-year-old Ahmed Saad lost his left forearm and both legs during an Israeli raid on Gaza in 2006. He is missing his thumb and pinkie on his right hand.
“I was not hit in this recent raid. But medical teams that entered Gaza saw me and transported me to Egypt to have electronic artificial limbs designed for me so that I can move again,” Saad told AlArabiya.net.
Gouda said Saad’s amputation had rendered him virtually unable to do anything on his own.
“Artificial limbs are necessary for Saad who is a DAK case (Double Above Knee amputation) so that he can have a somewhat normal life. Because hospitals in Gaza are under-equipped, Saad could not find the proper facilities to support his condition,” Dr. Gouda explained.
“Inshaa Allah I shall get these artificial limbs in Egypt so I can be of use to myself,” Ahmed hoped.
Initially, Ahmed shied away from the camera out of a sense of shame.
“I beg you not to take pictures,” Ahmed pleaded. But then he changed his mind and asked that his photo be taken to show the world what happened to him.
* Part II of the series explores the volunteers who are trying to ease the pain of Egypt’s Gaza patients. Part III will investigate the human toll caused by the white phosphorus bombs used by Israel during the war.
Source:http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/26/65023.html
Amputees suffer, disfigured cling to last hope
Cries of Gaza’s wounded persist in Egypt
Gaza’s wounded in Cairo
Lives cut short
Lingering injuries of war
25-year-old Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz's face has been disfigured by Shrapnel in the latest offensive on Gaza
CAIRO/DUBAI (Marwa Awad, Courtney Radsch)
As the Israeli offensive on Gaza entered it’s 19th day Muhammed Yaqub Hasan Ali decided to brave the falling bombs and tank shells to forage for food to feed his seven children and his seven-month pregnant wife. But as he stepped out a rocket hit him, destroying his legs. His wife miscarried.
“My children were starving after being trapped in the house for 10 days. I decided to go out on Jan. 15 to look for some food. The shelling started while I was out and suddenly a rocket fell at my feet and as you can see I no longer have them,” Muhammed said in a matter-of-fact tone.
The 35-year-old lay immobile on his hospital bed in Cairo’s Hilal hospital, both legs amputated, one above his knee and the other just below it. He had also lost hearing in his right ear because of the shelling that pounded Gaza throughout the war.
Although the Israeli offensive may be over the scale of the injuries and physical toll is just becoming known as hundreds of Gaza’s wounded continued to arrive in Egypt’s hospitals Sunday, unable to get adequate care in Gaza’s hospitals, some of which were bombed during Israeli raids and most of which remain in dire need of even the most basic medical supplies after weeks of a near-total blockade.
The 22-day Israeli war that left more than 1,300 Palestinians dead also injured more than 5,000 people, according to Gaza. Amputated limbs, multiple bone fractures and severe burns from chemical weapons like white phosphorous have become the calling card of Israel’s 22-day invasion.
In the first of a three-part series, AlArabiya.net investigates the human toll of the war and the individuals who make up the devastating statistics.
Gaza’s wounded in Cairo
Muhammed Ali lost his limbs the day he braved the bombs to fetch food for his starving family
Muhammad had an almost nonchalant air about him, as if he did not care what happened to him now that he is an amputee and has lost his unborn child. The constant war and lack of security, he said, have made death and the loss of basic things an everyday occurrence.
“What am I to say? Losing a limb is now like losing your wallet or car keys. Everything is game in Gaza,” he said, adding that he was hit twice more after the initial strike hit his car.
“The first attack came suddenly, but it was followed by a second one and a third one. What are they bombing again for? Can’t they see the car is already on fire, and I am on the ground in pieces? The enemy is ruthless,” he said.
" The wounds we have seen range from severe bone fractures to amputations to cases where parts of the flesh are missing due to explosions "
Dr. Michael Magdi GoudaDoctors dashed in and out of patients’ rooms on the ninth floor of Hilal hospital in downtown Cairo where 110 Palestinian patients from Gaza were seeking treatment for injuries caused by Israeli bombs, bullets and shells.
Doctors described the injuries as overwhelming despite the fact that most cases have been stabilized and now await follow-up surgeries and care.
“The wounds we have seen range from severe bone fractures to amputations to cases where parts of the flesh are missing due to explosions,” Dr. Michael Magdi Gouda told AlArabiya.net.
Ambulances at Rafah border transport Palestinian victims of war from Rafah to Cairo
“However the recurrence of the cases is overwhelmingly sad. It makes the doctors and surgeons here very determined to save these victims,” he added.
Experts note that catastrophic injuries have long-term psychological effects and can destroy a person's ability to earn a living, exasperating the social effects and putting strain on the family and community.
Lives cut short
Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz flashes the victory sign as he lay in hospital bed
Masad Nidal Fathi, a 28-year-old plumber, is but one of the cases that has tested the doctor’s skills. A series of nerve operations await Fathi, who lost his sense of touch in his upper left side of his body.
As he waited in the surgery room for his third operation since Dec. 31, his brother Hamed stood nearby with his cousin.
“Nidal was hit by a bomb while driving on Dec. 31 in Gaza. He lost his right arm, and his right foot as a result,” Hamed told AlArabiya.net. “Part of his stomach (outer flesh) is gone, so he is undergoing plastic surgery as we speak.”
Down the hall was 25-year-old Ahmed Fouad Abdel Aziz, whose face has been completely disfigured by shrapnel that sliced every inch of his face, including his eyes, and his lower body following an Israeli bombing on Jan. 5.
“He was at home when a bomb hit the house next door. Ahmed and others went out to help the wounded and pull the bodies of whose who got buried under the rubble. As they worked, another shelling took place and this time, it was Ahmed’s turn,” Ahmed’s uncle, Tawfiq Othman, told AlArabiya.net as he struggled to hold back tears.
" They first removed the shrapnel from his face and the ones that covered his body and then patched his face, which as you can see is ripped apart in different areas "
Tawfiq Othman, uncle of victimAhmed was immediately taken to al-Shifaa hospital in Gaza for basic intensive care treatment, and after two days he was transferred to Cairo for surgery.
He was in a coma for one week and awoke only to discover that he had lost his right eye and was nearly blinded in the other.
“They first removed the shrapnel from his face and the ones that covered his body and then patched his face, which as you can see is ripped apart in different areas,” Othman said pointing to Ahmed’s disfigured face.
A glimpse of hope remained as Ahmed discovered that his remaining eye could sense strong pulses of light and make out shadows.
“I can see the camera flash with my eye!” he told AlArabiya.net. “I can see the light!”
Ahmed’s uncle said his nephew is due for a cornea transplant next month in hopes of restoring his eyesight.
“He is desperate to see flashes of light, his eye can sense the light pulses and that gives him hope,” he explained.
Lingering injuries of war
Ahmed Saad lost three of his limbs and fingers of his right hand in another Israeli Gaza
Twenty-year-old Ahmed Saad lost his left forearm and both legs during an Israeli raid on Gaza in 2006. He is missing his thumb and pinkie on his right hand.
“I was not hit in this recent raid. But medical teams that entered Gaza saw me and transported me to Egypt to have electronic artificial limbs designed for me so that I can move again,” Saad told AlArabiya.net.
Gouda said Saad’s amputation had rendered him virtually unable to do anything on his own.
“Artificial limbs are necessary for Saad who is a DAK case (Double Above Knee amputation) so that he can have a somewhat normal life. Because hospitals in Gaza are under-equipped, Saad could not find the proper facilities to support his condition,” Dr. Gouda explained.
“Inshaa Allah I shall get these artificial limbs in Egypt so I can be of use to myself,” Ahmed hoped.
Initially, Ahmed shied away from the camera out of a sense of shame.
“I beg you not to take pictures,” Ahmed pleaded. But then he changed his mind and asked that his photo be taken to show the world what happened to him.
* Part II of the series explores the volunteers who are trying to ease the pain of Egypt’s Gaza patients. Part III will investigate the human toll caused by the white phosphorus bombs used by Israel during the war.
Source:http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/01/26/65023.html