15-year-old Palestinian amputee arrives in Bay Area to get prosthetic legs

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- A 15-year-old boy from Gaza landed at San Francisco International Airport Tuesday to receive new prosthetic legs. Doctors amputated his legs following an airstrike.

"I am very ecstatic and excited," Ahmed said through a translator. "I really want to thank everyone for the support."

One of the doctors who treated him was Dr. Mohammed Subeh who works at El Camino Hospital in the South Bay. He recently returned from treating patients in Gaza and says Ahmed's story hit him.

"When he arrived at our field hospital, he came in with mangled lower extremities - his legs were shredded," Dr. Subeh said. "He was bleeding out profusely. He lost half his body blood volume, was in hemorrhagic shock and in and out of consciousness."

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Ahmed will soon be treated at a California hospital where he will be fitted with prosthetic legs and learn how to use them. Dr. Subeh says it was a miracle Ahmed survived.

"Anyone who is familiar with double amputations, most folks don't survive even in the best circumstances," Dr. Subeh said. "When I saw 72 hours later Ahmed waking up and smiling at me, it was a miracle in and of itself."

An airstrike hit a farm where Ahmed, his brother and a friend were at. His brother was also injured and his friend died. Ahmed says the war has ruined the area.

"Gaza is completely decimated, it has been completely turned upside down," Ahmed said. "There is no life left in Gaza."

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Dr. Subeh says the situation is dire.

"All humanitarian aid is being controlled by Israel," he said. "We can't even treat fevers. Tylenol and medicine like that is not allowed."

He is calling on world leaders to work to get this war to stop.

"We need the international community to fight for what is right and that means holding leadership accountable," he said. "To make sure we ask the right questions and to make sure we use the right language, because children's lives like Ahmed's depend on it."