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When Khalil Abu Shaban crossed the international arrival gate at O’Hare Airport on Wednesday, he was greeted with cheers, hugs and lots of presents.
The 13-year-old, who uses a wheelchair after losing both his legs in a bombing in Gaza, arrived in Chicago to receive medical care at Shriners Children’s specialty hospital, including prosthetic legs that hopefully allow him to walk again one day.
After a 15-hour flight from Egypt with his mom and older sister, he was welcomed by about 50 people who clapped and chanted “Khalil,” while throwing rose petals at his wheelchair. Khalil waved and smiled while accepting gifts and flowers.
“We’re very glad we are here in Chicago,” said Lulu Abu Shaban, Khalil’s sister. “So many people love Khalil, and encourage Khalil to get his treatment. We are so lucky to be here.”
Khalil has faced a long, challenging journey, according to Steve Sosebee, executive director of Heal Palestine, a nonprofit that coordinated his arrival. Khalil and his family were forced to flee northern Gaza to the south, where he lived in a displacement camp, Sosebee said. He was later injured in a bombing near a barber shop he was visiting.
Medical staff in Gaza were able to stabilize Khalil, before he was transferred and hospitalized in Egypt. There, he had surgery on his head, which Sosebee said is believed to be successful. His main reason for being in Chicago is to walk again, Sosebee said.
“We’re honored to be able to help him,” Sosebee said. “This is really important for us to give these kids a chance to recover as much as we can considering his injuries, and give him an opportunity at a better life.”
Sosebee expects Khalil’s medical treatment to last months. He’ll likely require surgery to lengthen the bone in his leg to fit into the prosthetic limbs, because the amputations were so high up on his legs, Sosebee said.
More than 39,600 people have died in Gaza and there is a mass humanitarian catastrophe, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, since the war began 10 months ago with the Hamas-led attack on Israel. Khalil is the third injured child from Gaza to come to Chicago for treatment through Heal Palestine.
About four months ago, Leyan Albaz, 14, arrived in Chicago from Gaza after both her legs were amputated, also from a bombing. She was the first person to meet Khalil at the airport, which Sosebee said was an important moment to bring Khalil hope. Leyan is now walking with prosthetic legs and crutches.
“He’s coming at the beginning of his treatment. She’s at the end of her treatment,” Sosebee said. “She’s with the same injury that he has, same age, same country, so we wanted him to see hey, she was like me a couple months ago, I can be like her.”
Speaking through an interpreter, Leyan said she is very confident that Khalil will walk again, and told him to remain strong. She said her treatment has been “excellent” and her doctors have been “kind.” She still attends physical therapy regularly.
Leyan’s sisters were killed in the bombing that injured her, and her brother was killed a couple months ago, Sosebee said. The rest of her family is still in Gaza, he said, but her host family is helping provide love and support.
“It is very hard,” Leyan said via an interpreter. “I worry about them, but I know I’m here to get better.”
During treatment, Khalil will live at Sirage Al-Tarifi’s Chicago home. Al-Tarifi said he found out the family needed a place to stay about 10 days ago, and he and his wife stepped up immediately. He said his home is well equipped since his dad was an amputee, and he also has two children, 8 and 10.
“We take it as an opportunity (to host Khalil), and a privilege really,” he said, adding that it’s “the least we could do.”
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