Three months after losing a leg when she got hit by a truck in Gaza City while playing near a main road, a little girl named Yara is walking again, thanks to a prosthesis fitted for her at Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.
Initially, the child was treated at Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where she underwent several surgeries including amputation. The wound site became necrotic, meaning that the cells were dying, and her parents put in a request to Hamas for permission to get medical care in Israel.
“After a long wait, and many objections, Hamas finally gave their permission to transfer to Yara to Israel, but her parents were told they would have to wait in Gaza. Instead, Hamas allowed the young girl’s cousin to accompany her,” according to Ynet.
“For us this was humanitarian aid. We got very close to the girl and her family. We let her cousin stay with her at the hospital and even let him eat in the staff lunchroom, like a member of the hospital staff,” said Dr. Hezi Levy, head of Barzilai.
Yara was treated successfully by orthopedic rehabilitation specialist Dr. Michael Varshavsky. During her final days in the hospital, she was fitted with the prosthetic leg and quickly learned how to use it, with the encouragement of the hospital staff. She is now reunited with her parents in Gaza.
Last summer, a baby from Gaza got lifesaving cardiac care through the Israeli organization Save A Child’s Heart at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. In October and November 2015, close relatives of Hamas officials in Gaza received medical treatment in various Israeli hospitals despite ongoing hostilities.