Hope and Healing: Gaza boy brought to Detroit for prosthetic after surviving bombing in Palestine
(CBS DETROIT) - Two years after narrowly surviving a bombing in Palestine, a boy from Gaza is brought to Detroit for a new prosthetic.
Saleh, 9, arrived in Detroit Monday night before he was taken to Anew Life Clinic downtown to get fitted on Tuesday.
It's his first time in the U.S. thanks to the efforts of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF), a nationwide nonprofit that helps send Palestinian children abroad for care like Saleh.
During his stay, he is being hosted by Yasmeen Hamed and her Dearborn Heights family who say they look to help the 9-year-old heal and give him hope.
"He is a dream. He is the sweetest thing ever. He has done really well. He is comfortable. I told him that we are his family here and that anything he needs or wants that I'm here for him," Hamed says.
In 2021, Hamed says Saleh was out with his father in Gaza when a bomb struck his hometown.
"He has not told me exactly everything that has happened and I haven't asked him yet because I know it is a sensitive topic and he struggles with PTSD from it," Hamed says.
The bomb not only caused Saleh to lose the lower side of his right leg but also left injuries to his right arm and face.
Hamed, who is no stranger to hosting children brought in for care from Palestine, says this case is a little different than the rest.
"This is my first time getting a child this young," Hamed says.
However, getting Saleh to the States is not as easy as many may assume. The movement in and out of Gaza is challenging. The region has strict bordering controls, including checkpoints and limited access points, making the process of entry and exit, and even obtaining resources like food, water, and medical assistance extremely difficult.
But because of PCRF, it gives children like Saleh hope that they can heal.
"PCRF does everything. They work with Anew Life Clinic, they work with the Visa, they work with the government to bring him because to get him out of Gaza is very difficult," Hamed says.
Once Saleh receives his prosthetic, he will begin therapy and when he is ready, he will return back home but not before Hamed says she shows him a good time...something she has done with her own son with special needs.
"If someone took my oldest who is special needs that needed something, I would hope that a parent or a family would take care of my son the way I care for the kids that stay with me. There's no ifs or ands or buts about it. He's the newest member of our family. I'm going to make sure he really enjoys his stay here," Hamed says.