Maysoun’s Story: Recovery After Loss

Maysoun is from Gaza and is now receiving treatment in Egypt. This is her story, in her own words.

That evening, my husband, our children, and I sat down together for dinner. Afterward, my two daughters, who were 14 and 12, lay down to sleep. My younger daughter took off her glasses and handed them to me.

“Mom, please keep them somewhere safe. If I fall asleep, promise you’ll wake me for Isha prayer.”

I told her to sleep. Both girls were resting against me when I started to get up to make wudu and pray.

The next thing I remember is hearing voices. There was smoke and fire, and shrapnel was tearing into me. I began reciting the shahada. I heard someone say that a woman was still alive and that they had to get her out.

When I woke up, they told me my family was fine, but that my own condition was serious. Every time I asked to see them, they said they were on another floor of the hospital. “Get better first,” they told me, “so they don’t see you like this.”

Before I left Gaza, I insisted on seeing them. I told the people around me that I knew someone must have been martyred, and I begged them to tell me the truth.

That was when I learned that my husband and my children had been martyred. Only Yusuf and I survived.

I arrived in Egypt on January 9, 2024, to receive treatment for my injuries. My journey is not over. I still need more surgery on my hand, as well as a procedure to lengthen and correct my foot. FAJR Global is supporting this stage of my medical care.

I cannot change what happened to my family. I carry their memory with me as I continue my treatment and work toward walking again.

Read about FAJR’s medical evacuations from Gaza, or see FAJR’s work in Egypt.