A 12-year-old survivor underwent successful surgery to remove shrapnel from his body in the aftermath of a deadly Hezbollah attack on a football field in Majdal Shams, northern Israel, that claimed the lives of 12 children and teenagers. The incident has left the community in mourning and raised concerns about the safety of civilians in the region.
Adam Alsha'er underwent surgery Tuesday morning at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya. Dr. Alon Rud, a spine surgery specialist, performed the operation. The boy's condition is now described as stable. During the surgery, a long piece of shrapnel – the length of 18 millimeters (nearly one inch) – was removed from his body.
"The large piece of shrapnel was lodged in the back of the vertebra, fracturing it. Miraculously, it didn't damage the spinal cord itself. It was incredibly fortunate," said Dr. Nimrod Rahmimov, head of the orthopedics and spine surgery unit, after the operation. Alsha'er has been returned to the pediatric surgery ward and is expected to be discharged in the coming days.
As of Tuesday, 18 people injured in the attack that killed 12 children and teenagers remain hospitalized, primarily children and adolescents. Seven are still in serious condition, while the rest are in moderate to mild condition.
Alsha'er's mother described the day of the attack, saying, "We were at work at the time. We have a restaurant. We heard the siren and the explosion. My daughters said, 'Mom, there's been a strike in Majdal.' We could see it from the restaurant. I called Adam, but he didn't answer. I called his father and told him there was a strike in Majdal and Adam wasn't answering. I called again, and then Adam answered, 'Come, it was at the soccer field.' He just said 'come' and hung up.
"We drove up to Majdal, not knowing what had happened or what we'd find. I saw things there that no one should ever see. All the children were injured, some had died. It's extremely difficult. But thank God, he's one of the children who's been reborn."
According to the mother, some of the children who were killed were Alsha'er's classmates and teammates. "He knows everything. He heard the sirens and saw what happened. Throughout this entire period, we didn't have any concerns. We didn't expect something like this to happen. We felt safe. It's a tragedy. All the children from Majdal, both those who died and those who were injured, are like our own children. It's terrible."
