LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — A 10-year-old girl from the Middle East made a life changing trip, landing at Dulles International Airport Saturday afternoon.
“Baylasan is traveling all the way from Egypt," said HEAL Palestine co-founder and pediatrician Dr. Zeena Salman. "She lost her leg in a bombing in Gaza.”
HEAL Palestine, a nonprofit established at the beginning of this year, flies children affected by the conflict in Gaza to the United States for free medical care. HEAL stands for Health, Education, Aid & Leadership.
“We have her first appointment set up on Monday so she’s going to hit the ground immediately and go to her first appointment," said Salman. "She’s going to get her prosthetic fitting and then have several weeks, if not more, of physical therapy to get her back and walking again.”
Near the international arrivals baggage claim, hundreds gathered to support Baylasan after a long trip.
“I think it’s beautiful. I think it’s exactly what she needs, and it makes my heart feel very warm and I feel like everybody should have that," said Minna Alkhazraji, who works for an airline at Dulles and changed her schedule to be here. “I had to show up, I had to do something."
"We wanted to come out here to show support for her, for the community, for everyone," said supporter Nader Nayfeh. "It’s a terrible situation right now and we’re just here to provide some emotional support for her."
Baylasan is the 19th child HEAL Palestine has helped get free medical care in the U.S., and she’s the first to get that medical care here in the DMV.
"We’re not just getting her fitted with a prosthetic and sending her back to her family, we’re really getting her the holistic care that she, as a child that’s been traumatized, needs," said Salman. "She’ll have mental health care, she will see a pediatrician, she’ll get a checkup, she’ll have her teeth checked."