New Delhi: Barely out of his teens, Muammar Abdullah decided to pick up arms and join the Yemeni army when the Al Houthi militia usurped large tracts of the country in early 2015 but, just about a month after he went to the battlefront, he sustained serious head wounds in clashes with the rebels, losing his memory.
Abdullah was 17 at the time and had opted out of school to join the armed forces like many other youths of his age, but the battle wounds cut short his dream of liberating his land from Al Houthis’ grip. He underwent three failed surgeries in Yemen before he was flown to India for specialised treatment as part of the UAE government’s humanitarian mission to help victims of the war in the country.
Now, 20, Abdullah is slowly regaining his memory as he recovers at VPS Rockland Hospital at Saket, New Delhi, which is one of the two hospitals facilitating the Emirates Red Crescent’s mission.
- Muammar Abdullah (left) | Soldier
For three years since he was wounded in battle, Abdullah was lost to his friends and his family, unable to recognise anyone nor recall his past.
“We thought we would lose our brother forever. He wouldn’t recognise anyone nor would he remember anything. It was very difficult for us, but thanks to Allah Almighty he has come back and his recent surgery has been successful,” said Abdullah’s eldest brother Ahmad, who has accompanied him to India.
Surprisingly cheerful despite having undergone multiple surgeries to reconstruct part of his skull, Abdullah is keen to get better and join the fight again.
“They may have injured my body, but my spirit to fight injustice and atrocities has not dimmed. I can’t wait to go back home and pick up arms,” said Abdullah, with a smile on his face.
Equally keen to join the Yemeni armed forces is 17-year-old Ali Mohammad, who was brought to a New Delhi hospital a month ago on a stretcher, but is now back on his feet albeit with a little bit of help.
“I was stepping into our neighbourhood mosque for Maghrib [sunset] prayers when the Houthis attacked and I was hit by bullets on both my legs. My father and friends were with me and there were other people as well, but thankfully all escaped with minor injuries. Both my legs were badly hurt and I thought I would never walk again,” recalled Mohammad as he walked through the hospital’s corridor using an assistive walker.
The grade nine student, who like thousands of others had to discontinue his schooling due to the war, has had multiple surgeries on both his legs and is responding well to the treatment.
Though, still a long way from walking out of the hospital and going back home on his own, Mohammad says he is eager to go back and fight for his country.
Another young man whose spirit hasn’t been crushed despite suffering a gruesome injury to his face is Mehran Khazza.
The 21-year-old soldier had his face disfigured and his lower jaw shattered when a hand-grenade lobbed from the Al Houthi side landed on him during close-quarters combat in a central neighbourhood of Aden.
The incident took place in 2016 and, since then, Khazza has undergone a series of surgeries to reconstruct the lower half of his face.
“My face was like [a] hole after the attack and everyone thought I would not survive. But only Allah decides how long a person can live and when he will die. This incident has only revived my faith and renewed by vigour to fight for a good cause,” said Khazza, speaking with great difficulty as his face is still heavily bandaged.
Formerly the captain of an infantry unit in the Yemeni armed forces, he can only have liquid food channelled through a tube and is due for a few more surgeries, but that doesn’t deter the young man who hails from a family of army officers.
Abdullah, Mohammad and Khazza are among a batch of 74 patients who arrived in India early in July to receive treatment courtesy of the Emirates Red Crescent’s mission.
The mission has provided treatment and rehabilitation to more than 3,000 victims of the war in Yemen so far, including 250 who have recuperated in India since April last year.
