Deir el-Balah, Gaza – Inside a tent near az-Zawayda town in central Gaza, 35-year-old Nevin Abu al-Jidyan sat on the floor next to her youngest child, Abdul Rahman, who lay in a plastic baby seat.
She looked pale as she gently touched his face, and fanned him with a piece of cardboard.
He was sleeping after a bout of crying. It was a disturbed sleep, and the child, dressed in dusty clothes, moved his head from time to time. Nevin’s eight other children sat quietly in the small space, furnished with some mattresses, cooking utensils and other belongings in a corner.
The once-vibrant child, who had just started to take his first steps, used to play and fill the camp with his spirited energy, but he is now bedridden.
Abdul Rahman, who turned one on September 1, is the first child confirmed to have contracted polio in Gaza in 25 years.
“Not long ago, my son was constantly moving,” Nevin says, tears welling up in her eyes. “He was so active that his father bought him a small plastic cart to ride. He was so restless he broke it from all his … playing.”
Her voice breaks as she continues, gently rocking Abdul Rahman. “Now he can’t move at all. My heart is shattered. I can hardly believe this is happening.”
About two months ago, Abdul Rahman developed a high fever and began vomiting constantly. Worried, Nevin rushed him to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in central Gaza, never imagining how serious his illness was.
For two weeks, he was barely awake and rather than breastfeeding as usual, he was fed through a drip. After spending two weeks in hospital, Nevin brought her son, who had started eating again but with difficulty, back to the family’s tent.
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