Ghassan holds up a peace sign alongside a family for a photo after his arrival to Columbus. Credit: Hana El Nemr | Lantern Reporter

Ghassan holds up a peace sign alongside a family for a photo after his arrival to Columbus. Credit: Hana El Nemr | Lantern Reporter

Airports are bustling hubs of activity, where travelers from all corners of the globe pass through, each with their own stories. 

Tuesday, the John Glenn Columbus International Airport was introduced to the story of a young boy injured in Gaza.

Approximately 100 community members welcomed 14-year-old Ghassan Shadi Shouib Aladini at the airport around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, after he traveled from Egypt to the United States to seek medical treatment at Nationwide Children’s Hospital for injuries he sustained in Gaza.

His journey is being sponsored by HEAL Palestine, a nonprofit organization which, according to its website, hopes to provide young Palestinians in Gaza with better lives by providing education, aid and leadership. 

Jenna Sosebee, a first-year in pre-nursing and daughter of Steve Sosebee, cofounder of HEAL Palestine, said Shadi Shouib Aladini is the second Palestinian boy HEAL Palestine has brought to receive treatment in Columbus after being injured in Gaza. She said HEAL Palestine has helped more than 20 injured Palestinian children receive treatment in the United States since the beginning of the year. 

Shadi Shouib Aladini came to the United States as a survivor of the ongoing violence in Gaza, said Jenna Sosebee. She said he came alongside a five-year-old girl injured in a bombing in Gaza, who is receiving treatment in Chicago. 

“Ghassan, his two parents, four brothers and two sisters were displaced and were living in a tent,” Jenna Sosebee said. “On Jan. 24, an Israeli tank fired into the family’s tent, killing Ghassan’s six-year-old brother and severely injuring the rest.” 

Jenna Sosebee said Shadi Shouib Aladini and his family were taken to Egypt for treatment, but his injuries could not be effectively treated there. 

“Ghassan was shot in the abdomen and currently has shrapnel lodged in his back that has affected his colon and bullets in his legs, requiring two separate doctors,” Jenna Sosebee said.   

Aroub Shanaah, a family doctor and co-lead for the HEAL Palestine chapter in Columbus, said getting Shadi Shouib Aladini to Columbus was a complicated process that required coordination with social workers, volunteers and doctors. 

“These kids and their families do not pay a cent for their travel or treatment,” Shanaah said. “With that, you have to find a surgeon — in this case, two surgeons — that would be willing to donate their time and effort and have a hospital that will be willing to also do the same.”

Jenna Sosebee and Shanaah said Shadi Shouib Aladini will receive treatment for roughly two months and live with a host family when he is not in the hospital.  

“I can’t imagine being a kid traveling across the world to a foreign country alone,” Shaanah said. “It is important that Ghassan — as with all of our cases — is matched with a family that can carry him through this exciting, but also understandably scary time.” 

Shadi Shouib Aladini’s host father, Ali Malik, an interventional cardiologist in Lancaster, Ohio, said he was moved by the boy’s resilience and positive spirit. 

“Ghassan has survived the unimaginable,” Malik said when Shadi Shouib Aladini arrived at the Columbus airport. “Look at him now; he just had a 17-hour-long travel day and most of us would’ve run straight to bed, but he is here smiling and taking photos with everyone. I only just met him, and I already know that he is going to be my inspiration.”

Malik said his son is a few years younger than Shadi Shouib Aladini, but he looks forward to seeing their brotherhood grow.   

“There is truly nothing like watching children learn from one another,” Malik said. “Yes, parents raise them, but the most valuable lessons the world has to offer come from the most remarkable children. The children of Palestine, like Ghassan, teach us all what it means to be human, and I am excited to watch that rub off on my son.”

Amid the ongoing war in Gaza, Shanaah said despite the uncertainty of trying to make a tangible difference, the smallest actions can bring hope. 

“Everybody feels like they want to do something to help, and they feel like their hands are tied,” Shanaah said. “This gives us something we can do. It’s a drop in the buckets with everything going on in Palestine, but it gives us a way to feel like we can help, we can give and we can hope again.” 

Jenna Sosebee said the underlying truth of Shadi Shouib Aladini’s tragic experiences is that he is not alone in them. 

“Ghassan’s story, as sad as it is, is not unique,” Sosebee said. “Children make up half the population of Gaza, and they have to endure the pain of trying to survive its genocide.” 

Since Oct. 7, 2023, more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and another 96,000 have been wounded, according to the Associated Press.  

Jenna Sosebee said although faith can be hard to hold on to, communities must continue to advocate for the children of Gaza.  

“No child should ever have to worry about surviving to the next day, about when they will eat next or which loved one will die next,” Jenna Sosebee said. “So, we cannot lose interest, and we have to keep fighting for them because we are their voice.” 

Jenna Sosebee said when the dust hopefully settles in Gaza, children like Shadi Shouib Aladini will play a crucial role in the future of Palestine. 

“These children are the next generation of Palestinians, but they are traumatized both physically and mentally,” Jenna Sosebee said. “If Palestine is going to be rebuilt, it’s going to be on the backs of these children, so we aim to help them become the next leaders.” 

For more information about HEAL Palestine, visit the organization’s website.