ABDUL

• Tikrit, Iraq

Abdul was playing with four other children in Tikrit, Iraq, when unexploded ordinance
blew up in his hands.

He had left Mosul a few months before with his mother, after two years of deprivation
in the city controlled by Daesh. They fled the city, leaving their belongings, loved ones
and memories behind, hoping to start again far from the conflict.

After the explosion, Abdul woke up in the EMERGENCY Hospital in Erbil, which has now
been handed over to the local authorities. His leg had been amputated and his mother
was by his side.

After receiving treatment and completing a rehabilitation program at the Erbil Hospital,
Abdul and his mother will have to start again for a second time, hopefully far away from
the horrors of war.

1
SALEEM
• Mosul, Iraq

Saleem was selling bread from his street-cart in Mosul, Iraq, when he was hit by
shrapnel from a drone-launched bomb. He was severely wounded by the explosion.
Passers-by transported him to the nearest medical centre and, the next day, he was
transferred to the EMERGENCY Hospital in Erbil.

“You will not believe this, but now I am happy,” he said lying on his hospital bed. “Here,
everything is clean, and the personnel are very gentle as they treat me.”

After treatment and rehabilitation, Saleem planned to leave Mosul, and go and sell bread
in Dohuk, Iraqi Kurdistan, where some of his relatives live. He started a new life there,
together with his family.

2
RAYYAN
• Al Muthanna, Iraq

Rayyan was only twelve years old when a mortar fell in the middle of the park where he was
playing with his cousin Abdul and his friend Baker. Rayyan’s father Tareq witnessed the scene
from a nearby rooftop but was too far away to intervene.

The three children had decided to clean the small park near their home in Al Muthanna, East
Mosul, so that they could start playing football again. All three were severely injured in the
explosion: Rayyan and Abdul suffered injuries to their spines and were left paralysed from the
waist down; Baker, nine years old, had both his legs amputated.

After the incident, the cousins received treatment in the EMERGENCY Hospital in Erbil. They
are now undergoing physiotherapy. Baker is walking again: he was given prosthetic legs at
EMERGENCY’s Rehabilitation Centre in Sulaymaniyah.

According to Rayyan’s father, the child had already dreamed of being hit by a mortar before the
incident. In the hospital’s garden, he asked: “Do even the younger ones need to get used to living
in fear? Or maybe they already do?”

3
SHINO
• Halabja, Iraq

Shino was helping her mother with chores in their house in Pris, a village consisting of
22 families near Halabja, Iraq, when she saw an object that looked like a charger. When
she bent down to get it, it exploded in her hands. She lost an arm, an eye and her hearing;
she was twelve years old at the time.

“The first memory I have is when I woke up a few days after the explosion, in a bed at the
Centre. I thought it was dark, I couldn’t understand where I was or what had happened.
My sister Shirin was with me. I asked her for a mirror. I couldn’t recognise myself. I was
only 12 and I thought my arm would grow back.”

Eighteen years have passed since then. After months of hospitalisation in EMERGENCY’s
Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre in Sulaymaniyah, Shino began her long
path towards healing, which included operations, prostheses and physiotherapy. Now,
Shino is attending a vocational training course organised by EMERGENCY, with the
hopes of opening her own business.

No war causes only visible wounds: there are invisible ones too. These are the most
difficult to heal. Shino can still feel her fingers sometimes, she feels like she still has an
arm, she feels the impulse to move it, but then she realises she can’t. “I hate war, I hate
explosions. When my scissors fall on the floor, I still gasp. War deprived me of so many
things.”

4
AHLAM
• Mosul, Iraq

Ahlam was living in a refugee camp near Mosul, Iraq, with her parents and her little
brother when she lost both her legs in an explosion.

She arrived at the EMERGENCY hospital in Erbil in her father’s arms, fragile and
helpless, dirty and underweight, with infected wounds. The hospital staff worked hard
to treat her legs, but the prognosis was negative.

A few weeks later, Ahlam received new prosthetic legs at EMERGENCY’s Sulaymaniyah
Rehabilitation and Social Reintegration Centre. She is now walking again, and on her
way to a full recovery and a new start.

5
YUNUS
• Mosul, Iraq

Yunus lived in the eastern part of Mosul, Iraq, where he grew and sold potatoes. When
the bridges between the eastern and western parts of the city were destroyed, Yunus
was forced to carry his goods by boat from one side to the other. He was crossing the
river when he was hit by a bomb.

He was transported to the EMERGENCY Hospital in Erbil, where he had to have his right
leg amputated.

Today, Yunus is walking again: he received prosthetic legs at EMERGENCY’s

Rehabilitation Centre in Sulaymaniyah. After completing his physiotherapy, he will
return to his old life in Mosul.

6
GHOFRAN AND AKRAM
• Mosul, Iraq

Ghofran and Akram have a lot in common. They are both thirteen years old and they
come from the same city: Mosul, Iraq. They also both lost a leg to a bomb while they
were playing in their homes.

Today, Ghofran and Akram play together, in the garden of EMERGENCY’s Sulaymaniyah
Rehabilitation Centre, where they received artificial limbs. They are attending
physiotherapy classes and EMERGENCY will follow their growth, as well as adapt and
change their prostheses as time goes by.

7
BAHAR
• Kabul, Afghanistan

Bahar means ‘Spring’. It is a name which recalls images of life and birth. Unfortunately,
little Bahar lived through the horrors of war before even coming into the world. His
mother Engila was left wounded by a rocket explosion while pregnant with Bahar. She
was at home when she heard the sound of it approaching, and instinctively pushed her
husband out of the way. The man was unharmed, but Engila was injured.

Engila was admitted to EMERGENCY’s Hospital in Kabul for immediate treatment, and
later transferred to EMERGENCY’s Maternity Centre in Panjshir, where little Bahar was
born.

Bahar had to spend the first twenty days of his life in neonatal intensive care for
respiratory problems; but as soon as his condition allowed, he was reunited with Engila.
On his way to a full recovery, he could finally rest in the warmth of his mother’s body.