PALESTINE CHILDREN'S RELIEF FUND

Salah El-Hajeen: From Gaza to D.C.

In August 2003, the PCRF's Washington, D.C. Area Chapter took the initiative in arranging treatment for 15-year-old Salah El-Hajeen at The George Washington University Hospital. Salah was injured in an August 2002 Israeli flechette missile attack on his family as they slept in their plot of land in the Gaza Strip. The attack robbed Salah of his mother, two older brothers, and a cousin. Salah survived but was pulverized with razor-sharp nails, called flechettes, which exploded from the Israeli tank shell, paralyzing his left hand and causing a life-threatening aneurysm in his chest that threatened to rupture and cause sudden death.

At GW Hospital, exactly one year after the tragic attack on his family, Salah underwent a successful surgical procedure performed by Dr. Anthony Venbrux and Dr. Elizabeth Ignacio. The highly skilled surgical team used a minimally invasive procedure to seal off the aneurysm. The Hospital donated all the treatment to save Salah's life.

Salah had never stepped foot outside of Gaza, an Israeli-occupied 20-mile strip of land just twice the size of D.C. But once in D.C., the personable teenager with an easy smile and infectious sense of humor had no trouble making dozens of new friends. The PCRF extends its great thanks to all the volunteers who received Salah so warmly during his three-week stay.

The media also took an active interest in Salah's story, as in this CBS piece.Salah is now back home in Gaza with his father and 7 brothers and sisters. He plans to continue his studies and dreams of one day becoming a doctor so he can "repay the kindness" he has received by "helping other people." Read more about Salah at PCRF in the News