Resilience Amid Ruins: Nawaf's Journey from Devastation to Hope in Syria

Nawaf A., a 60-year-old Syrian refugee, is a father of seven. He was injured in 2015 in a bombing, resulting in the amputation of his right leg above the knee and multiple jaw fractures. His house was destroyed, and he lost everything. He was in Daraa area, which was under heavy shelling at the time. The attack involved Grad rockets, a type of multiple rocket launcher system known for causing widespread destruction and casualties. The area was severely impacted, with buildings collapsing and debris flying everywhere. Amid the chaos, he was caught in the blast radius of one of the rockets and sustained injuries.

Nawaf joined his family as they fled before him to Jordan. They now live in the Zaatari camp. Nawaf is a construction worker, a very physical job, paid by contract, and the new prosthesis he received from HI this year made his job easier for him. Initially treated at a field hospital, he was transferred to Jordan for further medical care. He benefited from HI direct services inside Za'atari Camp, Jordan, where he took shelter and received his first prosthetic.

Scarred but Unbroken: A Path to Recovery

In 2024, he obtained a new prosthetic and underwent physical therapy sessions with HI to strengthen his amputated limb. His old prosthesis made walking difficult, and at one point, he even fell. Now, with the new prosthesis, Nawaf can go to work without any trouble and with complete confidence. He begins his working day early in the morning, ascends, disembarks, walks on rough ground, and climbs scaffolding at building workshops. His primary hope is to see his children complete their education. Specifically, he wishes for his daughter Leen to pursue a computer engineering degree, and he encourages his youngest son Abdulrahman to pursue higher education after school. Nawaf was still thinking about the moment he was injured by a bombing. The memory of that moment remains vivid and haunting. He continues to feel deep psychological pain, not only because of the injury itself but also due to the larger context of his experience.

Fleeing his home country under such traumatic circumstances, losing his house to complete destruction, and the upheaval of his family’s life have left lasting emotional scars. The flashbacks of the bombing often appear without warning, bringing back the sound of explosions, the sight of destruction, and the fear and helplessness he felt during the attack. These recurring memories have made it difficult for him to focus entirely on his current life, as the trauma keeps pulling him back to that moment in Daraa. Despite his resilience and efforts to move forward, the psychological toll of that event remains a significant burden.