Due to his critical condition doctors have prevented anyone especially relatives and friends from visiting 22-year-old Mahmoud Emad at the intensive care unit except for a few minutes.
Emad was seriously injured by Israeli sniper fire during his participation in a March of Return protest on the eastern border of Gaza two weeks ago. A bullet penetrated his body causing severe damage to his colon liver and abdomen.
Although doctors performed two major operations on Emad but his malfunctioned liver and its secretions may lead his body to suffer serious poisoning. His life-threatening condition prompted his family to seek help from the competent authorities to provide him with medical assistance outside the besieged Gaza Strip.
Two weeks ago a reporter for the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) took a picture of Mahmoud Emad in a border area east of al-Bureij refugee camp as he was watching other protesters trying to fly balloons bearing photos of martyrs when suddenly Israeli snipers on the other side of the security fence intensively opened fire at everyone there.
The intensive sniper shooting led Emad to fall down suffering a serious bullet injury in the abdominal area before he was carried by other fellow protesters and then rushed aboard an ambulance to al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah (central Gaza).
“He was injured by a bullet that ripped the colon stomach and parts of the liver. Upon his arrival at the hospital he underwent surgery and had 30 centimeters of his intestines removed and 12 days later they had to perform another operation on him and removed part of his stomach” his uncle Hani Emad told the PIC.
The gravity of his medical condition lies in the failure of his liver to function properly and doctors warned this would lead Emad to suffer further complications and internal poisoning.
For his part Amer Emad the father has appealed to the Palestinian competent authorities and medical organizations to necessarily and urgently help his son have access to appropriate medical treatment abroad.
