A 2-year-old Palestinian girl was evacuated from Gaza and brought to St. Louis this week for medical treatment.
Rahaf and her mom, Isra Saed, were greeted by a crowd of nearly 80 people who cheered as they came out of the arrivals terminal in a wheelchair close to midnight on Dec. 2.
They carried balloons and handmade welcome signs and brought gift bags filled with stuffed toys and animals. A few waved Palestinian flags upon their arrival.
Her young child on her lap, the 30-year-old mother smiled as she accepted the gifts.
“I'm happy that I found people waiting for us. I was very scared that I would come and find that no one was greeting us like this,” Saed said. “God willing, Rahaf will be treated here and will start walking again.”
Rahaf is one of thousands of children injured during the yearlong war in Gaza. Her two legs were amputated after an Israeli bomb struck her home several months ago.
More than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since last October, according to the charity group Save the Children.
The nonprofit aid group Palestine Children’s Relief Fund brought Rahaf and seven other kids to the United States this week. Since last October, the group has evacuated 143 children, including 21 who came to the U.S. for treatment.
“The list of kids that need treatment right now in Gaza is just massive. What we're doing is just a drop in the bucket, truthfully,” said Shireen Yehya, who works with the aid group’s medical evacuation team.
It is heartwarming to see people humanize injured children and rally in support of the evacuees, said PCRF U.S. Operations Manager Suheir Ibrahim. She said the ultimate goal is to end the war and rebuild Gaza’s collapsed hospital system.
“Hopefully our collective voices will make the bombs stop, the missiles stop, so we actually can help thousands that are wounded instead of helping one child at a time,” Ibrahim said.
In the meantime, volunteers in St. Louis say they’ll help Rahaf and her mom on their healing journey.
Rahaf is set to receive treatment and prosthetics at Shriners Children’s Hospital. She is the second Palestinian child to come for medical care in St. Louis this year. In May, the nonprofit HEAL Palestine brought a 12-year-old amputee and his mother for treatment at Shriners.
