Gaza childhood on crutches: Rateb carries on with a pipe for a leg

In a narrow courtyard surrounded by rubble, Rateb Abu Qaleq no longer runs after his football as he did before the war. Instead, Rateb is now learning to walk again, this time on crutches. His prosthetic leg made of plastic tubing makes for a scene that sums up the harsh reality of childhood in the Gaza Strip.

Rateb, a Palestinian child of about ten years old, has nothing left of his childhood but his memory. Before the war, the alleys were his playground and the ball was his constant companion. Today, his balance is a daily struggle, and walking on its own is an achievement that requires courage.

Childhood in Gaza

One of the Israeli raids changed everything for him. Rateb was with his mother and siblings when the missile struck. His small body survived, but at a price: his right leg was amputated, and his mother and brother were killed.

Rateb left the hospital with a missing leg, a destroyed home, and a health situation that prevented him from completing his treatment. In a sector ravaged by war and siege, there are not enough prosthetic limbs, rehabilitation programmes, or equipment to give injured children the chance to return to a near-normal life.

With the help of relatives and friends, he resorted to a rudimentary solution: a plastic water pipe attached to the stump of his leg. It is a harsh and painful substitute, but it allows him to stand. It does not give him comfort or real security, but it gives him the ability to move — even if only with slow and painful steps.

Every step he takes hurt him twofold: a physical pain and the pain of being reminded of his loss. Nevertheless, Rateb insists on walking. He watches his friends playing from afar but cannot join them. He says, “What I would give to play like them.”

Rateb is not alone

Rateb is one of hundreds of children in Gaza who lost limbs during the war. Today is a time when hospitals are unable to provide basic treatment, let alone prosthetic limbs or rehabilitation programmes. His childhood, like that of many others, has been put on hold by a military/political decision and a collapsed health system.

Every day, Rateb asks himself a silent question: Why did he survive?

He survived death, but every morning he faces the test of survival in Gaza. A child with a pipe for a leg, a memory weighed down by loss, and a simple dream that is still possible: to walk without pain, and to play… and that the war never returns.

Featured image via the author