Heartbreaking photo of a dazed young boy draws attention to Aleppo
He sits in the back of an ambulance apparently unaware of the blood covering his face.
Dazed, dusty and confused, it takes several seconds for five-year-old Omran Daqneesh to put his hand to his head to check the wound he sustained during ongoing fighting in Aleppo, Syria.
His photo, and video of him being loaded into the emergency vehicle, was shared widely on social media Wednesday as the human toll of the conflict was thrown again into stark relief.
Raf Sanchez, a correspondent for the Telegraph, shared his image on Twitter.
( https://twitter.com/rafsanchez/status/765985554026598400 )
Sanchez also posted a picture of the boy after he'd received treatment for the wound.
( https://twitter.com/rafsanchez/status/765993052930441220 )
In a video uploaded to YouTube by activist organization the Aleppo Media Group, the shocked child can be seen taken from a building into the ambulance and left on the chair before being taken to the hospital.
Activists said that multiple airstrikes targeted the opposition-held neighborhood of al-Qaterji late in the evening local time Wednesday, Storyful reports. Three people were reportedly killed and several others, including at least two children, were injured.
The small boy was taken to the M10 hospital, the Telegraph reports, where he was cleaned, had his head injury treated and later released. Some 12 other children were reportedly treated at the M10 facility, which has itself been struck by airstrikes, on Wednesday.
The eastern part of Aleppo has been held by rebel groups since 2012 but has been subjected to a Russian-backed government siege.
Doctors Without Borders warned of hospitals being hit by airstrikes in late July, saying that four facilities they provide with medical supplies were hit in one week alone.
On Wednesday, the father of a two-year-old girl apparently hit by a chlorine gas attack said "the world has turned its back on Syria."
Earlier this month, the last doctors remaining in Aleppo wrote an open letter to U.S. President Barack Obama saying: "We do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers. We need action."
The next time someone you know starts kvetching about "the refugees", show them this.
ReplyDeleteIf their heart doesn't break, get rid of them. They aren't worth your time.
What is going to be this child's outlook of the world when he grows up ?
ReplyDeleteWhy is everyone filming him when they should be giving him a hug?
ReplyDeleteNo child should ever have to face what he has went through... so sad, and he is just one of many.
ReplyDeleteGive him to me I look after Him! Amen x *N*
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely horrifying! The world has failed you little one. It's just so sad.
ReplyDeleteBut discussing the burkini is more important.
ReplyDeletepraying for peace every day
ReplyDeleteThis breaks my heart.
ReplyDeleteKeep praying.......because it's obviously worked so well so far. Action, accountability, global movement. This can't be this child's or any child's reality. It just can't. We can't and shouldn't allow it. :(
ReplyDeleteVery sad situation.
ReplyDelete