First war-injured Gazan baby arrives in UK for therapy

[ad_1] Caroline Hawley Diplomatic correspondent

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/f40d/live/57183190-6e14-11f0-89ea-4d6f9851f623.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="BBC Majid arriving at Heathrow airport" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> BBC Majid Shaghnobi arrives at Heathrow airport in London

Majid Shaghnobi cannot eat or converse like he used to. He cannot smile.

However together with his injured mouth lined by a surgical masks, his eyes had been beaming as he arrived at London's Heathrow airport on a flight from Cairo, together with his mom, brother and little sister.

"I am completely happy to be in England and to get therapy," the 15-year-old advised me.

He was out making an attempt to get humanitarian help within the Kuwaiti space of northern Gaza in February final yr when an Israeli tank shell exploded close by, shattering his jaw bone and injuring his leg.

"One among my mates helped me and took me to the hospital," he says. "They thought I used to be lifeless. I needed to transfer my hand to point out them that I used to be alive."

Medical doctors in Gaza saved his life and Majid spent months in hospital, respiration via a tracheostomy tube, earlier than he was evacuated to Egypt in February this yr - with Israel's permission - for additional medical therapy.

Now he is within the UK for surgical procedure at Nice Ormond Road kids's hospital in London to revive the perform of his face.

He's the primary Gazan baby to reach within the UK for therapy for warfare accidents, virtually two years right into a battle wherein greater than 50,000 kids have reportedly been killed or injured, in keeping with the UN kids's charity, Unicef.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/3a1b/live/69fd88f0-6e14-11f0-aa33-1bf5e0b3ec8e.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Majid's injuries from the shell explosion" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> The tank shell explosion destroyed Majid's jawbone

His arrival follows months of labor by a gaggle of volunteer medical professionals who got here collectively in November 2023 to arrange Venture Pure Hope, which helps injured and sick Gazan kids get to the UK for therapy. It's funded by non-public donations.

"The UK is residence to a number of the finest paediatric services on this planet, but whereas nations just like the US, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and lots of others have stepped as much as assist, the UK has but to do the identical," Venture Pure Hope says.

Majid's arrival within the UK comes lower than every week after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promised to evacuate extra badly injured kids, though the federal government has launched few particulars of the plan.

Majid's medical staff – all working without spending a dime – will embrace craniofacial, plastic and orthodontic surgeons, with hospital payments paid for by non-public donations.

"If we're in a position to give him a face and a jaw which he can use then it will not be fully regular, however hopefully he'll be capable of feed himself and converse, and his facial expressions will probably be higher," says lead surgeon Noor ul Owase Jeelani, a professor of Paediatric Neurosurgery at Nice Ormond Road.

"Hopefully that is going to make a huge impact on how he lives and on his future.

"Our hope is that we can assist many extra kids like him within the coming months. It is our collective ethical duty."

'They thought I used to be lifeless', Majid tells the BBC

Medical doctors from the hospital have beforehand handled sufferers from Ukraine, and final yr helped separate co-joined twins in Israel.

Professor Jeelani is upset that it has taken so lengthy for the primary baby from Gaza to be handled for warfare accidents within the UK.

"As a physician and as a human, I do not fairly perceive why it is taken us over 20 months to get to this stage," he says.

Venture Pure Hope has recognized 30 critically injured kids in Gaza who it hopes to assist carry to the UK. It says the federal government's announcement is "important and long-overdue", however time is of the essence.

"On daily basis of delay dangers the lives and futures of youngsters who deserve an opportunity to stay, to get better and to rebuild a life," stated Omar Din, its co-founder.

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/83ba/live/a53bf230-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Ghena and Rama on a slide" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Ghena (left) and Rama in a playground within the UK

In April, the group of volunteers secured visas for 2 ladies -13-year-old Rama and five-year-old Ghena - with life-long medical circumstances to even have privately funded operations within the UK.

They had been delivered to London after being evacuated to Egypt from Gaza, the place - with the destruction of the healthcare system there - they weren't receiving the therapy they wanted.

Since I met them in early Could, Rama has placed on weight and Ghena, who was deeply traumatised and withdrawn, is noticeably extra playful.

Ghena has had laser surgical procedure to alleviate the strain in her left eye, which she was liable to shedding. And Rama has had exploratory surgical procedure for a critical bowel situation.

Each ladies are doing properly, their moms say.

However they're sick with fear - discovering it exhausting to eat and sleep - about members of the family left behind in Gaza, who at the moment are struggling to feed themselves.

"It is higher than Gaza right here," Rama tells me. "There aren't any bombs and no concern."

However mates message her from Gaza, telling her that they have not discovered bread for 10 days and she or he says her older brother is sleeping on the road after first his residence, after which his tent, had been bombed.

"They're hungry. So I do not need to eat both. I really feel like I am nonetheless there with them," Rama stated.

UN-backed consultants stated this week there was mounting proof that widespread hunger, malnutrition and illness is driving an increase in hunger-related deaths among the many 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza.

Majid, who suffered life-changing accidents whereas out making an attempt to get meals for his household, can also be anxious about his two brothers nonetheless in Gaza.

"I am scared that they will die or one thing will occur to them," he says. "I simply need them to be secure."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/85c7/live/e4a83690-6e00-11f0-9e5b-1ddb84d3f3e2.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Ghena guitar" class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/> Ghena was liable to shedding her left eye