Ghazan Boy is the first to be treated in the UK for war injuries

Majid Al Shaghnoubi cannot eat, speak, or smile as it was.

But with his injured mouth covered with a surgical mask, his eyes were cheerful when he arrived at Heathrow Airport in London on a flight from Cairo, with his mother, brother and little sister.

The 15 -year -old told me: “I am happy to be in England and get treatment.”

He was trying to obtain humanitarian assistance in the Kuwait region in northern Gaza in February last year when an Israeli tank shell exploded nearby, destroying the jaw bone and wounding his leg.

“One of my friends helped me and take me to the hospital,” he says. “They thought I had died. I had to move my hand to make it clear that I was alive.”

The doctors in Gaza saved his life and spent Majid for months in the hospital, breathing through the tube of the trachea, before being evacuated to Egypt in February of this year – with the permission of Israel – for more medical treatment.

Now he is in the UK for surgery at Great Ormond Street Children Hospital in London to restore his face.

He is the first child in Ghazan to reach the UK to treat war injuries, after nearly two years in a conflict in which more than 50,000 children were killed or injured, According to the United Nations Association for Children, UNICEF.

His arrival is followed by months of work by a group of volunteer medical specialists who met in November 2023 to establish the Pure Hope project, which helps the children of the injured gas and patients reach the UK for treatment. It is funded by special donations.

“The UK is home to some of the best children’s facilities in the world, however, while countries like the United States, Belgium, Italy, Switzerland and many others went up to help, the United Kingdom did not do the same.”

Majid’s arrival to the United Kingdom comes less than a week after Prime Minister Sir Kerr will pass Evacuation Children who were seriously injured, although the government issued a few details about the plan.

The Majd Medical Team – all of whom work for free – will include cranial, plastic and calendar surgeons, with hospital bills paid by special donations.

“If we can give him a face and a jaw that he can use, that will not be completely normal, but we hope he will be able to feed himself and speak, and his facial expressions will be better,” says pioneer Nour Osi Gilani, Professor of Daring Ormond Street.

“We hope this has a great impact on how his life and his future.

“Our hope is to be able to help many children like him in the coming months. It is our collective moral responsibility.”

Doctors from the hospital had previously treated patients from Ukraine, and last year they helped separate the twins joining Israel.

Professor Gilani is disappointed because it took a long time for the first child from Gaza to treat war injuries in the UK.

He says: “As a doctor and as a human being, I do not fully understand the reason for our over 20 months to reach this stage,” he says.

Project Pure Hope has set 30 children with serious injuries in Gaza and who hope to provide assistance to the United Kingdom. She says the government’s declaration is “vital and long”, but time is essential.

Omar Dean, the co -founder, said: “Every day of delay risks the life and future of children who deserve an opportunity to live, recover and rebuild life,” said Omar Dean, the co -founder.

In April, a group of volunteers obtained the 13-year-old girls ’satellites and five-year-old Ghena-with life-long medical conditions for private sector operations in the United Kingdom.

She was I brought to London After evacuating Egypt from Gaza, where – with the destruction of the healthcare system there – they did not receive the treatment they needed.

Since I met them in early May, Rama was put in weight, and Ghena, which was very shocked and withdrawn, is significantly more likely.

Gina underwent laser surgery to relieve pressure on her left eye, which was at risk of losing. Rama underwent surgery to the serious intestine.

Their mothers say that both girls are walked well.

But they are worried – they find it difficult to eat and sleep – around the family members who left in Gaza, who are now struggling to feed themselves.

“It is better than Gaza here,” Rama told me. “There are no bombs, no fear.”

But friends send her from Gaza, and told her that they did not find bread for 10 days and say that her older brother sleeps in the street after his home, then his tent, was bombed.

“They are hungry. So I don’t want to eat too. I feel I am still with them,” Rama said.

Experts that are not supported this week said that there is increasing evidence that hunger on a large scale, malnutrition and disease are leading to a rise in hunger deaths between 2.1 million Palestinians in Gaza.

Majid, who suffered from changing injuries while trying to get food for his family, was also concerned about his brother’s stillness in Gaza.

He says, “I am afraid that they will die or something will happen to them.” “I just want them to be safe.”