Goats and Soda: NPR

In February, NPR published the story Husam Abukhedeir, a Palestinian chief neurosurgeon at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza. When war broke out after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, he spent nearly two months treating seriously injured Palestinians, rationing care – effectively choosing who lives and who is left to die amid shortages of medical supplies and fuel.

His wife and five young children, including a then six-month-old baby, moved into a single room at the hospital with him after they felt their home had become unsafe due to Israeli airstrikes.

When Israeli forces surround Al-ShifaAbukhedeir believed his family was in danger and that he was unable to treat his patients due to a lack of medical resources. So he made the difficult decision to leave his home country with his young family, taking advantage of their foreign passports to leave.

NPR caught up with Abukhedeir to find out how he’s been doing since leaving the enclave for Egypt and then the United Arab Emirates.

The last time NPR spoke to Abukhedeir, it had been barely a month since he left Gaza. The physical exhaustion and emotional wounds from the deaths and injuries he had faced as chief neurosurgeon at the enclave’s largest medical complex were still raw. But there was still passion –– and hope –– in his voice.

But now, he said, he is “alive but not living.”

Nearly nine months have passed, and Abukhedeir sees no end to his suffering. It has weakened his morale, he says. He still believes he will return one day to rebuild and serve his community. But, as he says, it will take “nothing short of a miracle.” And he doesn’t know how many of his family members in Gaza will still be alive.

“All we can do is pray to God that this suffering will end,” he said.

And when the phone rings, he fears it is bad news about his elderly parents or one of his siblings still alive in Gaza.

“I want to hear from my family, but when they call, I’m afraid they’ll tell me someone has died,” he says.

Since Abukhedeir left Gaza, he sometimes feels remorse and guilt about leaving his family and patients behind.

“But I thank God when I remember that leaving Gaza was God’s plan for me,” he says. “It saved me from this genocide and means I can still help my family and patients even though I am abroad, through remote medical consultations and financial support.” (The Israeli government has strongly denied accusations that it has violated the Genocide Convention.)

Although he previously held a medical license to practice in the UAE, it took Abukhedeir four months of waiting and paperwork to get permission to practice at a private medical center in the city of Al-Ain.

“Living here is very expensive. School fees are very high. Housing is expensive,” he said. “We had to spend all our savings.”

Their new life is promising: like in Gaza, the main language is Arabic, there are nice places for his children to go and a few restaurants that serve typical Middle Eastern food. But he has no desire to eat Middle Eastern food.

“My wife and I only go out to create a pleasant environment for our children,” he says.

Abukhedeir has already lost many things dear to him in Gaza: his home, his clinic, and dozens of friends, colleagues, and family members. The person who nearly died was his sister, Dalia, who he said died of untreated burns that covered three-quarters of her body in October, after an Israeli airstrike. Abukhedeir’s 22-year-old nephew, Dalia’s son, was also badly burned but is still living with his injuries. Abukhedeir tried to get him out of Gaza to receive emergency medical care, but to no avail.

He lost his right ear, can no longer use his legs properly because he needs physiotherapy and can no longer move his hands because of contractures, a complication that causes burn scars to mature, tighten and thicken, preventing movement of the affected area, Abukhedeir explains. This situation weighs heavily on him.

“He was one of the hardest working young men in the family. He was in his third year of computer science at university. He loved his work and was full of passion and energy,” says Abukhedeir. “All that is gone. He can no longer use his hands to work on a computer. And it pains me that there is nothing I can do about it.”

Abukhedeir’s elderly parents are also still in northern Gaza and he has been unable to get them out. live on canned food for months, with no fresh produce available, he said.

“It’s been so long since they’ve seen fresh meat, chicken, fruit or vegetables,” he said.

From scratch

Before the war, Abukhedeir and his family lived comfortably in Gaza. He was at the peak of his career as a neurosurgeon, with a thriving clinical practice and about 14 neurosurgery trainees to supervise at Al-Shifa Hospital and the European Hospital in southern Gaza.

In his new position in the UAE, he had to start from scratch. He had to make a name for himself and set up a referral system for incoming patients.

He works hard for his family, but it’s not easy.

He says a feeling of anxiety is eating away at him and his wife.

He doesn’t let his children watch the news for fear the shocking images will affect them, but when they’re not around, he and his wife watch television. “It’s unbearable. But you can’t really turn away from it,” he says.

The children are resilient but still healing. They seem upset every time they remember what they endured in Gaza, Abukhedeir says. He adds that they thank God for being safe but feel sad and worried about their family who are still there.

The children are just beginning to acclimate to their new school, make friends and live some semblance of a normal life.

“Even though my wife and I are just empty shells at this point, we smile and wish our children the life every child deserves,” he said.

As for medium and long term plans, Abukhedeir said he is taking things one day at a time.

“I feel paralyzed,” he said. “I can’t think or make plans until the war is over.”

Farah Yousry is the editor-in-chief of Side effects Public mediaa health reporting collaboration from NPR member stations across the Midwest, based in For info in Indianapolis. Previously, she worked as a journalist for BBC News Arabic Radio and TV, covering a wide range of stories from the United States. She also worked as a journalist in Egypt, where she covered the Arab Spring.