Zahwa Dada
When the father dies, responsibility burdens the mother who would do everything in her power to raise good children.
Zahwa, who was widowed twice, worked hard to provide food on the table for her children. She would fall asleep on her work table linking beads together, so much she was tired. Her children grew up grateful for her, and decided to make it up for all the hard, heartbreaking old days…
On the afternoon of August 4, Zahwa was home feeding her disabled son from her second marriage. When the explosion happened, she was pushed off her place and hit the wall. She also sustained leg injuries from shattered glass windows. She lost consciousness for a few moments, and then called her son thinking there was an assassination…
On the second day after the explosion, she started complaining from a headache. She avoided going to the hospital out of fear of the rapidly spreading coronavirus. The 64-year old woman suffered so much in silence.
On August 28, 2020, she fell unconscious, in her home. She was taken to Jeitawi Hospital where she was treated in the emergency room, while waiting to get her PCR results before she got admitted to the intensive care unit the next day. She underwent a surgical intervention to help her breathe. She was also fed by tubes.
Her doctor did not confirm nor refute the possibility of a brain stroke resulting from a strong blow. The family believes in this theory above everything else.
Twelve days later she regained consciousness and responded to her children by blinking her eyes.
Her condition required physical rehabilitation, thus, she was referred to a specialized physical therapy center in Batroun.
The center refused to admit her; they could not be held responsible for her critical case, and she was scheduled to be transferred to Bhannes hospital. Unfortunately, she died before going there on October 6, 2020.
Her family was devastated. Losing her so soon, was unbearable. She was a great person, and a loving mother and friend. Zahwa left a beautiful memory in the hearts of every one who knew her.
Her death certificate says she died of a brain stroke. Her family is trying to add her name to the list of victims of the Port of Beirut blast on August 4.
Her son Jean asks about her in sign language; no one told him she died yet…
How do you tell someone so innocent that life is so cruel it took his mother, and ripped his world apart?