LOS ANGELES (KABC) — Jana is a 13-year-old girl.
She enjoys making beaded bracelets and learning English, but these days she has to focus on survival.
I remember trying to touch my leg and seeing blood and flesh on my hands and thinking, ‘I’ve lost my leg.’
On December 21, 2023, the house where she and her family were taking shelter collapsed during an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip. Jana had to have her leg amputated.
“All I remember is the roof falling on us,” she said. “I was screaming and my leg was in terrible pain. I went to touch my leg and there was blood and flesh on my hand and I remember thinking, ‘I’ve lost my leg.'”
Volunteers from the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund helped translate Eye Witness News’ interviews into Arabic and English.
Jana’s mother, known as Um Uthaman, described a chaotic and dangerous journey to the hospital: airstrikes were ongoing, ambulances were unavailable and the usual 10-minute drive took more than an hour because roads were blocked by rubble.
Ongoing attacks have devastated Gaza’s health system, and Jana is one of many children and people who have had to undergo serious medical procedures without anaesthesia.
“She screamed uncontrollably every day when we changed her bandages. It was so painful for her – even a man could not bear the pain,” Jana’s mother said.
Jana was also confined to Al Shifa Hospital for 15 days, where a mass grave was later discovered.
“My father and brother were no longer with me because the Israeli army entered the hospital during Ramadan and forced all the men to leave,” Jana said. “Then they took my mother and sister away too, leaving me alone. I suffered from hunger and thirst. I had no food or water for 15 days straight.”
“She told us at one point she had bugs coming out of her foot, which led to her having to have her leg amputated,” said Tarek Khairat, director of overseas medical programs for the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
“People need to learn about the suffering of the Palestinian people. Thousands of children are at risk and dying every day,” Jana said. “Whether it’s from hunger or air strikes, people are dying every day.”
One of Jana’s brothers was killed in an airstrike while on her way to fetch water, while her other brother and her father, who has kidney cancer, remain in north Gaza.
“Not only are we unable to provide infrastructural support to the health system, but the Rafah border is now closed, making it almost impossible to get children out and access medical care,” Khairat said.
Jana was one of the few who was able to evacuate to Egypt, and PCRF secured transportation and free medical care for her to Southern California, in addition to other assistance.
What keeps me strong is my faith in God and His will.
Yana’s mother, Ng Utaman
Massive crowds welcomed her at LAX last weekend with bouquets of flowers, colorful signs and warm cheers of “Jana! Jana! Jana!”
“Our mood has lightened. Jana has forgotten all about her journey and the hardships she has had to go through to get here,” her mother said.
“When I was injured I was depressed for three or four months,” Jana said. “But when we came here and I heard there was a possibility I could get a prosthetic leg, I felt a lot better.”
Jana said she believes she can get up and do normal things and achieve really big things in the future.
She wants to study business.
“What keeps me strong is my faith in God and His will,” Umm Usman said. “That whatever He writes for us will come true. That gives us the perseverance and the strength to keep going.”
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