Children under attack: A quadriplegic child’s fight for survival in Gaza
In the heavy air of the pediatric intensive care unit, a young boy lies still on an adult bed – his story written across his body.
- English
- العربية
What this boy needs is a transfer – urgently – to a facility that can handle a child in his state, one that isn’t drowning in its own limitations. Somewhere with dedicated rehabilitation, long-term respiratory support, and the bandwidth to care. But in the Gaza Strip, medical transfers are miracles, and miracles are in short supply. Medical evacuations out of the Gaza Strip, especially for a case like this, remain a distant dream.
The staff here fights battles they know they cannot win. They suction his airways. They monitor his vitals. They adjust the ventilator’s settings, knowing that every hour it’s on him is an hour it’s not on someone else. An infant in respiratory distress could die any moment without one.
Before the conflict, Al Shifa Hospital had the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the Gaza Strip with 50 incubators and all intensive care equipment.
For this little boy, the current battle is just the beginning, and he’s already lost so much. What kind of life lies ahead for him, tethered to machines, dependent on care this place can’t provide?
Every beep of the ventilator is a reminder: In Gaza, it’s the children who suffer the most.
What he needs is a transfer – urgently – to a facility that can handle a child in his state, one that isn’t drowning in its own limitations. Somewhere with dedicated rehabilitation, long-term respiratory support, and the bandwidth to care. But in the Gaza Strip, medical transfers are miracles, and miracles are in short supply. Medical evacuations out of the Gaza Strip especially of a case like this remains a distant dream.
The staff here fights battles they know they cannot win. They suction his airways. They monitor his vitals. They adjust the ventilator settings, knowing that every hour it’s on him is an hour it’s not on someone else. A neonate in respiratory distress could die any moment because there is no ventilator for him/her.
In these difficult days in Gaza City there are only 3 ventilators available for infants who need intensive care, of these 3 ventilators one is occupied by this quadriplegic child.
Before the conflict, Al Shifa Hospital had the largest neonatal intensive care unit in the Gaza Strip with 50 incubators and all intensive care equipment.
For this little boy, the current battle is just the beginning, and he’s already lost so much. What kind of life lies ahead for him, tethered to machines, dependent on care this place can’t provide?
Every beep of the ventilator is a reminder: something’s got to give. But in Gaza,it’s always the children who suffer the most.
