As his sister loved to remark, Diaa Al-Adini’s entire soul was in his hands. The 15-year-old used his iPad to play games and capture pictures of his hometown in Gaza being destroyed by the Israel-Hamas conflict.
However, his camera, the majority of his photographs, and—most importantly—the hands and arms he had used to take pictures, play games, and go about his daily life were all destroyed in an explosion that occurred in August.
Al-Adini told The Oregonian/OregonLive, “I was in shock and started crying when I first learned that I lost my arms.” So far, it has been really difficult for me.
Al-Adini’s journey to the Portland region, however, should enable him to use his hands once more and grasp a camera.
Al-Adini and his sister Ayah traveled here for a full week on Saturday in order for him to obtain free prosthetic arms at Portland’s Shriners Hospital, thanks to funding from the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund.
However, Diaa and Ayah Al-Adini’s memories of what they witnessed are still vivid: Their hosts, Nora Mahmoud, Ahmed Ebeid, and their three kids, live in a house that is in the flight path of aircraft arriving at Hillsboro Airport. After living under constant fear of Israeli Defense Force planes delivering bombs and missiles, Mahmoud claimed it took Diaa Al-Adini days to adjust to the sound of private aviators arriving for a landing.
During our conversation, Ebeid provided translation services for Diaa and Ayah Al-Adini, who spoke Arabic.
While receiving medical treatment in Portland, Diaa Al-Adini (center) is residing with his hosts, Ahmed Ebeid (left) and Nora Mahmoud, together with their three children.Todd Tatum
Diaa Al-Adini claimed that prior to the war, he led a comparatively typical life in the Gazan city of Deir Elbalah, where he played with his dog Rex, spent his days off from school at the beach, and took pictures of happy sceneries and the natural world.
However, he claimed that everything changed when IDF forces arrived in his city following the October 7, 2023, Hamas killing of 1,200 Israelis. Al-Adini claimed that after his dog was shot by IDF forces, leaving the house became risky.
Ayah Al-Adini, his 22-year-old sister, added that each home turned into a prison. Everything stopped completely, and it wasn’t safe even inside the house. In the event of an airstrike, she added, her six-child family started sleeping in the same room, and she had to halt her university studies.
She clarified that everyone would suffer the same fate if something happened. No one would be absent and no one would be present.
Diaa Al-Adini continued to take pictures in spite of the dangers around him, using the money he made from selling water on the street to purchase a better Canon camera. He felt compelled to record what he witnessed, so he snapped images of the carnage surrounding him rather than the scenery as he had done in the past.
However, Al-Adini lost both of his arms as well as his ability to handle a camera, play games, or feed himself after an explosion occurred on August 13 when he was sitting in a cafe.
In the seconds following the explosion, Al-Adini remarked, “I couldn’t move my arms, and I took a look and I saw that they’re in pieces.” My left arm had to be amputated in front of me when I arrived at the hospital.
After four hours of surgery, doctors were unable to preserve his right arm, so they had to amputate it as well.
All of a sudden, according to his sister, everything changed. We were accustomed to spending time together and taking care of one another, but all I could hear at that moment was my mother and my brothers sobbing.
The family was divided by Al-Adini’s injuries, which kept him in the hospital while the others slept at home. The family would visit him during the day, but according to Ayah, Diaa found the hospital to be like a separate war, with his bandages only being changed every three days due to a shortage of resources.
In this photo taken by another doctor inside a hospital in Al-Adini’s hometown, patients are in a lobby area due to a lack of space in the rest of the hospital. Ahmed Ebeid, the father of Diaa Al-Adini’s host family, stated that he had completed multiple medical missions in Gaza.Thanks to Ahmed Ebeid
Diaa Al-Adini had to relocate to a new hospital after he and his family were compelled to evacuate to Alzawaydah on August 16. There, they spent weeks living in tents.
Al-Adini claimed that his faith in God and his conviction that his arms had already entered paradise gave him strength during it all.
According to Ayah Al-Adini, her family and younger brothers gave her the strength to continue.
She added, “As the eldest sister, I didn’t have the luxury of choice.” Since all of the younger siblings would also break down if I did, we had to go through this together.
Diaa Al-Adini’s luck started to improve in October, roughly a year after the war started, when the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, a charity organization, contacted the family and offered to send Diaa to Portland to get prosthetic arms.
Diaa and Ayah Al-Adini arrived at Portland International Airport on November 16 after more than 20 hours of travel, where they were met by a large audience.
On the evening of November 16, following a roughly 24-hour journey, Diaa and his sister arrived to the cheers of Portlanders.The Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund provided this image.
Diaa Al-Adini described it as a nice surprise. I enjoyed that all of the young children came to take pictures with me.
“This is a human family and it’s a way for us to give back to humanity because we’re all human,” Mahmoud remarked. Particularly when you aid those who are most in need and most at risk.
Since arriving on November 16, Diaa Al-Adini has been seeing the Portland region; during one excursion, he went on a tandem bike ride with Yaseen Ebeid, one of his hosts’ kids.Thanks to Nora Mahmoud
In order to keep Diaa and Ayah Al-Adini occupied until PCRF and the Shriners Children’s Hospital create a care plan and have him fitted with prosthetic equipment, the family has brought them to explore Portland’s natural regions.
Diaa Al-Adini is eager for the procedure, even if it might take months.
“I was pleased that the possibility of receiving prosthetic arms existed,” he remarked. I can also grasp my camera once more.
Crime, public safety, and local news are all topics covered by breaking news reporter Tatum Todd. You can contact them at 503-221-4313 or [email protected].
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