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HEALING SCARS: 9-year-old Palestinian boy in Kent to receive surgery for head wound

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Nine-year-old Dawoud Abu Armana’s childhood is full of memories — and scars — that will likely last a lifetime.

A native of Beij, a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, Dawoud suffered a severe head injury in January 2009 when an Israeli tank shell struck his home. Kent native Steve Sosebee worked through the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund to bring the boy to the U.S. for surgery to repair to injuries to his skull.

“There are two holes in his head, basically, foregoing medical terms,” Sosebee said.

The boy came to the United States late last month with three other children from the region who are receiving treatment around the country. Doctors at the Cleveland Clinic conducted surgery last week to repair Dawoud’s skull, and they inserted medical balloons beneath his scalp. The balloons will be filled with saline to expand and create new skin to be used to cover the surgical areas.

Dawoud has three siblings, and he keeps in touch with his family daily through video link-ups broadcast over the Internet. The family is very poor, Sosebee said.

Gaza has been under siege by Israeli forces for more than a year. Blockades enacted by its border countries, Egypt and Israel, limit the movement of goods, materials and people across border lines. 

The hindered ability to move construction materials has limited Palestinians like Dawoud’s father, a laborer, in their search for employment. The limitations on permits for travel forced the boy to wait three weeks before he could come to the U.S. Others have waited months, Sosebee said.

Since 1990, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund has brought nearly 1,000 children to the U.S. for medical treatment and has helped many more by sending doctors to the region. That effort has become more difficult with the ongoing war, and Sosebee encourages people who want to get involved to visit the organization’s Web site, www.pcrf.net, to learn what they can do to help.

“For me the siege means more,” Sosebee said. “It has real human consequences.”

Dawoud speaks very little English, but he gets along well with Sosebee’s daughters. If all goes well with his treatment, the boy could return home in May or June.

“Despite all of these factors, he’s doing well,” Sosebee said. “We’re just thankful that we have the opportunity to help someone like him. He’s a good kid. He deserves help.”