In addition to a huge death count, thousands of Syrian have faced serious injury over four years of civil war, with many suffering from permanent handicaps and physical disabilities. A large portion of these victims live in Syrian refugee camps inside Turkey.
AbdulHadi and Hassan Drouby, two brothers from Deir-ez-Zor, live in a camp in Adiyaman province, southeast Turkey. The teenagers were injured by shrapnel from a rocket that landed near their father's shop in Deir-ez-Zor.
AbdulHadi said: "The ambulance took me with my brother to Turkey for treatment, and the injury caused the loss of part of my right leg, and the loss of part of my brother's left leg".
The two brothers depend on crutches to walk, but the injury has not prevented them from attending school and completing their education.
In the same camp lives 25 year-old AbdulHadi al-Allawi, both his legs are paralyzed after being shot by a sniper in his spine while returning to his home in Syria two years ago.
Allawi said that his family brought him to Turkey for medical care. Following a long period of treatment, the doctors told him that he would lose movement in the lower part of his body. Allawi now depends on family members to meet his needs.
Moutaz Hamdo, also 25 years old, was hit by shrapnel from a bomb while fighting regime forces in Syria, paralyzing both his legs and his right arm. Moutaz says he visited the doctor 20 days ago, where he was told he could regain his ability to walk if he received the proper physiotherapy.
In a statement released last December on the UN International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Syrian National Coalition said the war waged by the regime on the Syrian people has left more than 270,000 cases of permanent disability.
The Coalition added: "The suffering of the Syrian people with special needs is compounded with the international disregard for their tragedy, in addition to the absence of the necessary health care needed to ease the poor conditions of their lives".
"The tragedy of disability is associated with several problems, including poverty and lack of necessary treatment", the Coalition explained. The Coalition's report, entitled "Syrians with Special Needs, the Double Bitterness of Life", painted a picture of the suffering of these forgotten people in refugee camps, as well as within the country.
Translated and edited by The Syrian Observer
