Margot Salim Tabbal

Margot was born in 1926, on the day that celebrates love all over the world. She devoted her life to raise her children, after her husband's passing. She was widowed in her thirties, and carried on the overwhelming responsibility of five kids, two boys, Carlos and Alberto, and three girls, Anna Maria, Marilyn, and Patricia.

94-year old Margot was a strong woman with great responsibility she had to bear from a very young age. Yet, she faced life’s challenges with her head up high. She was loving, but also very strict; raising five kids is no easy job.

Margot was also hard on herself. She endured unbearable pain, she suffered from osteoporosis her whole life. Yet, despite her illness, she was independent, and never asked for anyone's help. She learned to rely on herself, and in spite of her old age, she was still able to independently support herself.

On August 4, at 4:00 PM, she called her daughter Patricia who was with her uncle Georges, Margot's brother, at Saint George Hospital, where he was scheduled for an operation. Margot reproached her daughter for not calling to reassure her about her only living brother, after she lost her sisters Alexandra and Catherine. She told her: "I am worried for you. I have a bad feeling. I will come to the hospital". That was her appointment with death. She went from her house in Tayyoune to the hospital, half an hour before the explosion, to check on her brother.

When the explosion happened, Margot was with her daughter in a hospital room that was hugely affected by the blast. Margot sustained a head injury and multiple fractures in her body. Patricia survived although she suffered from four different fractures.

Margot fought for her life for three hours in the room with her daughter, until Ibrahim, Patricia's husband, arrived with their children to help. Margot was evacuated to Hotel Dieu Hospital where she died two days later.

The tragic explosion cut a scar that will never heal in the heart of her loved ones. Nothing will ever be the same again.