Unsung Hero: Doctor's Quiet Sacrifice Saves Syrian Boy's Life During Traumatic Flight to US
On an exceptionally cold winter afternoon in 2016, amidst the grim depths of the Syrian war, Yazen was quietly playing in Al-Bab, Syria, when a bomb tore through his family home.
More than 80% of his tiny body was engulfed in flames and melted, including his lungs, plunging the child into a coma from which he did not awaken for six months. Yazen lost his ability to speak and now requires a machine to assist with his breathing.
However, it was the traumatic plane ride from Istanbul to Los Angeles several years ago that provided Yazen and his mother, Kawthar — a schoolteacher from the Syrian city of Homs — with their first glimpse of the generosity of America’s frontline medical workers.
The voltage of the breathing machine was not compatible with the aircraft. Consequently, Yazen’s tracheotomy quickly filled up with fluid, leaving him unable to breathe. The airline staff made an emergency announcement, appealing to any doctors on board. An American anesthesiologist stepped forward, and a Jordanian nurse volunteered to translate for the terrified mother. The doctor requested that the deeply distraught Kawthar move to a different part of the plane so she would not witness the horrors that unfolded.
The doctor inserted a tube into Yazen’s tracheal hole and manually removed saliva, continuously spitting it out to prevent the boy’s airway from being blocked. He performed this task for the entire 13-hour flight, while passengers prayed and cheered for the child in his fragile fight for life.
“The way we were supported, immediately I knew that we were in the right place,” Kawthar said softly. “People are kind to us when we walk in the streets. Nobody stares at my son like he is different.”
As Yazen was promptly rushed to a hospital upon landing, the heroic doctor remained anonymous. Despite social media posts by the Burnt Children Relief Foundation (BCRF), which facilitated Yazen’s and others' emergency surgeries in the US, their efforts went unnoticed. In a world saturated with social media and individual egos obsessed with “influencing” the masses mostly with vanity and nonsense, it’s humbling to remember that there are earthly angels who do not seek outward glory, and their influence emanates from the purest place within them.
Indeed, this unknown doctor remains akin to an angel. He saved Yazen’s life. Dozens of surgeries later, the 12-year-old boy — doll-like with delicate features and wide ebony eyes — exudes light and wisdom. Without a voice, he forms a heart shape when asked about his experience in the US so far.
When I spoke, Yazen’s eyes answered.
For the past six years, this beautiful little boy has undergone surgery after surgery. Late last year, he spoke for the first time since the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime literally stripped away his voice.
Miracles do happen. Light seeps through the cracks of dark holes. Without the likes of BCRF and its partnership with the incredible Shriners Children’s Hospital in Galveston, Texas, more children would suffer.
Hope drifts, ascends, and flourishes untamed in the harshest of terrain.
Store hope in a safe place.
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