Elan Matar

Elan had just finished her house chores, and she was preparing to take a shower. As soon as she got into the bathroom, she felt a strong earthquake and quickly rushed to open the door. She was surprised by a wave of dust filling the air in her home, followed by a second huge explosion, scattering the door, destroying home furniture, and causing her a severe hand injury.

After the explosion, Elan was home alone, her hand fractured, as her husband was not with her, and her family lived far away. Yet, thankfully, a young Syrian man rushed to her rescue and evacuated her to Saint George University Hospital, and from there to the French Hospital of the Levant, but to no avail, as hospitals’ condition was no less horrific.

Ultimately, Elan’s condition stabilized after she was received by the Shahhar Governmental Hospital, where she was given simple emergency medical treatment to help her endure the pain. She was later transferred to Ain Wazein Medical Villahe, and she was admitted with severe injury to her right hand tendons, and a broken toe.

Elan stayed at the hospital for three days, followed by three months of physical therapy, but her hand was no longer the same. She says: “I could not move it at all in the beginning.”

Her hand improved a while later, but not enough to go back to its pre-explosion state. Elan couldn’t carry anything anymore, she mentions: “I drop anything I carry, and my hand should not get wet.”

Today, Elan blames the government for what happened to her, and wonders about her right to healthcare and the role of the Ministry of Health that is unable to carry the minimum of its duties. Elan knows that her medical insurance saved her, otherwise, she would have been suffering like many others who were unable to pursue their treatment.