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Child's inspiring story of survival

Ghada has undergone treatment in Gaza, Israel, Egypt, and now Dubai. Doctors in Gaza thought it was a miracle she was still alive after she suffered from severe meningitis.

  • By Siham Al Najami, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 00:33 May 15, 2008
  • Gulf News

  • Ghada in a wheelchair beside her mother Suhair. Basil Hammoudeh, Mohammad Zaki and Mohammad Dahhan volunteered to spend time with Ghada as part of their school community service.
  • Image Credit: Siham Al Najami/Gulf News

Dubai: "I am only 6 years old, but I've seen enough of the terrors of occupation. My parents and grandparents have lived for 60 years under the bombs of Israel... how much longer will this go on?" asked Ghada Awad.

Unlike many children her age, Ghada left her home in Gaza temporarily to get treatment in Dubai following an illness that disfigured her body two years ago.

Ghada has undergone treatment in Gaza, Israel, Egypt, and now Dubai. Doctors in Gaza thought it was a miracle she was still alive after she suffered from severe meningitis.

Ghada's strong will to hold on despite her fragile body pushed her parents to extreme limits to get help for their daughter.

Basil Hammoudeh, is more than twice Ghada's age and comes from Gaza, but says he can never imagine living through what this six-year-old has endured.

Basil along with his classmate, Mohammad Dahhan, from Uptown School in Dubai volunteered as part of their community service requirements at school to spend time with Ghada. Their aim was to get to know her better and to ease her pain.

"I look at Ghada and she gives me hope for a better future for the people in Gaza ... It's the people with a spirit like hers that add a new perspective to my life," said 14-year-old Basil, who dreams to visit his home country one day.

Due to lack of equipment and frequent power disruptions in Gaza, Ghada had to be sent to Israel along with her elderly grandmother as her mother was due to give birth and her father was not given permission to enter Israel. "I was not allowed to see my daughter for the first few days as I was seven months pregnant and had to be vaccinated. My husband went through the pain of seeing his daughter unconscious ... with infections and rashes covering her body ... She was almost unrecognisable," said Suhair, Ghada's mother.

Ghada was later sent to Egypt since in Israel she was only treated for blood infection, leaving her with bone infections and rashes covering different parts of her body.

In Egypt they repaired the severely damaged blood vessels in her deformed right leg but she still had a deformed leg that was a few inches shorter than her left one, making it difficult to balance her movement.

Five months ago, Ghada again left her village in Gaza city and flew to Dubai with the support of the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) and Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Humanitarian and Charity Establishment to have orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery on her right foot. The surgery was a success.

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