wrote this the same day i wrote the previous post. 12 year old ibrahim succumbed to his terrible wounds on september 19, far away from his mother and siblings. he was send back to gaza as a maimed corps.
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We first heard about 12 year old Ibrahim in an article that detailed that he lost both of his hands while playing football due to a missile attack. It turns out Ibrahim’s condition is much more severe than that.
After eight days in coma at Al Shifa hospital in Gaza, where medical staff were unable to treat his hands due to lack of adequate equipment, so they had to cut them off to avoid gangrene, Ibrahim finally regained consciousness. He was still awake when he passed through Erez crossing two days later together with his cousin (Mohammed who suffered from the same attack) his father and uncle. When they arrived at Kaplan hospital, he had fallen back into a coma. He immediately underwent a five-hour surgery. Since then, Ibrahim has not regained consciousness.
Ibrahim sustained various degrees of burns all over his body. The bones in both of his legs are fractured, and an alarming portion of his flesh was blown off in the explosion. After seven days at Kaplan hospital, he needed blood transfusions due to internal bleeding. Ibhrahim’s liver is damaged, his lungs are punctured, he has shrapnel in one eye, he is deaf in one ear, he sustained burns of various degrees all over his body.
When we went to see Ibrahim at the intensive care, his condition was very critical. We were not allowed into the room to avoid infection, although only a few days earlier, a visitor had been able to see him. Ibrahim’s doctor explained: “you don’t want to see him, he looks worse than what you could imagine”. The doctor also said it was unclear whether Ibrahim will come through in the end.
Adnan is the father of seven children. Adnan is Ibrahim’s father. Adnan disclosed that the physical condition and the smell of Ibrahim were so shocking and distressing it cut off anyone’s appetite for days. He said the doctors encouraged him to talk to his son, and so he tries. Adnan tells his son that he is there with him, but most of the time he doesn’t know what to say anymore. Adnan is traumatized and physically and mentally exhausted. He is just waiting and hoping.