Nicolas Youssef Chedid
"Grandpa Nicolas" was not an old man… Not so long ago he became a grandfather to Carly (2 years and a half), and Nicolas Junior (5 months and a half). He was healthy and fit, but the 4th of August criminal explosion, robbed him of his ability to walk in just few moments, he couldn’t save himself.
He was a strong handsome man in his sixties. His son Joe says his father was beyond perfect, always smiling and fun. He lost his job as a supervisor in a marketing company a year ago, but did not give up. He was recently closer to God, regularly praying at Saint Joseph Church, after a long interruption; he was also attending religious biblical courses.
When the fire erupted at the Port of Beirut, Nicolas was getting ready to take his dog on a walk. He went into his bedroom to put on his shoes, when the huge explosion rocked the city. An aluminum window frame fell on his feet. He ran to check on his wife who was in the living room, she was wouneded… He rushed to save her, but suddenly felt he couldn’t walk anymore, his feet were bleeding… He asked her to get to the hospital to check her wounds, and that he would be following her. His wife walked out of the house; she was shocked by the chaos and destruction she witnessed. She first thought that a missile hit their building, but found out the tragedy hit the whole neighborhood. She looked behind her but did not find Nicolas, she asked her neighbors about him, but no one had seen him. When she couldn’t find him, she returned home to look for him, and found him sitting in his bed in a pool of blood. He tried to bandage his vein with a belt, but he couldn’t stop the bleeding.
On that Tuesday evening, Nicolas bled to death, and died in his home… He couldn’t live to see his grandchild Nicolas Junior growing up and calling him "Jeddo"… He died before he could finish building their family home in the village where he wanted to stay for the rest of his life… He breathed his last before the arrival of his children, Joe and Melissa, to save him... How would their wound ever heal in a country where human beings have zero value!?