Syria – Saving Shahad from a gunshot
“We were in a house we felt wasn’t safe. We went to another house assuming it was safer. Her aunt was carrying her there when a bullet hit Shahad.”
As two-year-old Shahad’s family fled the violence in Syria, the unthinkable happened – the little girl was caught in the crossfire, taking a bullet to the spine. She is paralysed from the waist down, unable to run and play with the other children in the refugee camp in Lebanon where she now lives. Shahad’s mother was killed in Syria, so her aunt brought her to Lebanon to keep her safe and seek medical treatment.
“We came and they gave her basic aid in the hospital. They arranged for a car to bring us here and they removed the bullet from her back. I pray that by Allah’s will, she will get better and begin to walk.”
Shahad’s heartbreaking story is just one of many the Islamic Relief team in and around Syria hear every day. We have provided over 5.2 million medical disposables, more than 2,200 pieces of medical equipment and 22 ambulances inside Syria in the last year. We’ve also paid for thousands of Syrian refugees to have often life-saving medical treatment and operations in neighbouring countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
Thank you for the generous support which has made this all possible – Shahad’s aunt has just one last request: “I hope that the world will continue to pray for Shahad and that her story will not be forgotten.”