13-year-old Abdullah Berzan was shot by Turkish soldiers while playing in Rojava and has been paralyzed ever since. He has been waiting for one and a half years for an opportunity for treatment.
On 20 September 2018, the Turkish army opened fire on playing children from the village of Xerab Kort, about ten kilometers west of Qamishlo, from a post on the nearby border. Abdullah Berzan, then twelve years old, was seriously injured as a result of the attack. Abdullah was taken to a hospital in South Kurdistan with the help of the Kurdish Red Crescent (Heyva Sor a Kurd). As the doctors demanded 10,000 dollars for treatment, the shrapnel could not be removed and Abdullah remained paralysed.
Abdullah tries to walk with crutches, but only with the help of his mother. Outside of school time he lies on his back at home all the time. The family lacks the money to treat the boy. His mother tells the following about the attack on her child: "My son went to seventh grade. One day, when he came back from school, he went out again to play. The Turkish soldiers deliberately opened fire on the playing children. My son was injured there."
The mother continues: "The doctors said that my son's condition was critical. He had lost one kidney and the other was ten percent damaged. We took Abdullah to South Kurdistan for treatment. We stayed there for 17 days. The inflammation in his body became worse and worse. They said 10.000 dollars would be needed for his operation. "We didn't have that much money so we had to come back."
Abdullah has been looked after by Heyva Sor a Kurd around the clock for about one and a half years. He receives treatment in the physiotherapeutic facilities of the Health Committee of Cizîrê in Hesekê and Dêrik.
