Palestinian teen awaits prosthetic leg in Colorado after losing leg in Israeli bombing of Gaza
Abdal Aziz, who came to Colorado just one month ago, hasn't had a whole lot of time to explore the state because he's been waiting for his prosthetic leg. He says his February has been pretty slow.
"He spends a lot of time indoors alone here," a translator for Aziz said.
He's in Colorado Springs waiting for a prosthetic leg, but it's not quite ready yet.
"It was supposed to be last Tuesday, but unfortunately, they told him that they still have some work to do," Aziz said through a translator.
He lost his leg in the Israel-Hamas war. He says he feels incredibly lucky to get away from the devastation in Gaza.
"There is no schools, there's no mosques. Some places, there's no food. There's a lot of people in Gaza who are injured," he said.
Dr. Mohamed Kuziez isn't treating Aziz, but he just returned to Colorado from Gaza where he was treating children impacted by the war. He says he's never seen so many children amputees.
"A lot of them have come up with nontraditional prosthetics using, you know, different joints that they can get or different pieces of metal and wood to make something that works," Kuziez said. "It makes me keenly aware of the privilege and the resources that we have."
Aziz is in Colorado thanks to HEAL Palestine. Palestine Children's Relief Fund, which Kuziez works with, has also sent children to Colorado to get medical treatment. Kuziez says these programs change lives.
"It gives them a chance at a future," he said.
It certainly has given Aziz hope. He wants to finish his education once he gets his new leg so he may one day live his dream of driving a car.
"Inshallah. Inshallah. Hopefully," Aziz said.
He'll be in Colorado until the spring or summer and says the one thing he wants to do while he's here is to ride a horse because, before the war, he had a horse that he liked to ride all the time back in Gaza.
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