Montgomery resident helps arrange surgery for Gaza Strip victim
By: Courtney Gross
Although the differences between New Jersey and the Gaza Strip are plentiful, one seems to stand out starkly to 10-year-old Adham Ghalia the noises he has become used to hearing.
The sounds of traffic congestion have replaced the cacophony of explosions and gunfire.
Almost 6,000 miles from home, Adham arrived in the United States more than a month ago to receive reconstructive surgery on his left leg. A resident of the Gaza Strip, the boy arrived bound to a wheelchair the result of an artillery blast this summer while he was picnicking with his family on a beach.
The explosion killed members of Adham’s immediate family, including his father, stepmother and five siblings ranging in age from 1 to 17.
Adham has undergone cutting-edge reconstructive surgery at the Long Branch-based Monmouth Medical Center in an attempt to help him fully recover from the horrific incident six months ago. The procedure could better his chances of embracing the activities most adolescents crave.
But getting to New Jersey was half the battle.
Montgomery Township resident Nora Bartelt Whisnant led the local fight to bring Adham to the United States for treatment through the Princeton-area chapter of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, or PCRF a national nonprofit group providing health care to children injured during conflicts in the Middle East.
The cause of the June blast, according to media accounts, was disputed some arguing its origin was a land mine buried in the sand by Palestinian extremists, others claiming it was a misguided Israeli shell. Following the fatal explosion, Israel launched an investigation, which received international attention, eventually exonerating the Israel Defense Forces.
Following this summer’s blast, Adham was cared for by an Israeli hospital that brought his recovery as far as it could. Area doctors contacted the national chapter of PCRF notifying the organization’s president, Steve Sosebee, that Adham was a perfect candidate to receive the health care the group has provided to hundreds of injured children through hospitals in Europe and the United States, Ms. Whisnant said.
From there, central New Jersey physicians jumped on board doctors who were willing to perform the surgery free of cost and local organizations, including Princeton’s Coalition for Peace Action, searched for housing for Adham.
U.S. Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) contacted both the Israeli and Egyptian embassies to speed up the process of bringing Adham to New Jersey where he arrived in late October.
"This is a heartwarming story of people putting aside politics to help an innocent boy receive the medical care he needed," Rep. Holt said. "I was happy to do my part by working with Israel and Egypt to get Adham here, and I wish him a speedy recovery," he added.
Now hosted by an Egyptian family in Morganville, Adham is progressing through physical therapy, eagerly awaiting the days he’ll get to visit the zoo and see his first waterfall, said Ms. Whisnant, Adham’s legal guardian.
But like the recent cease-fire unfolding in Israel and the Gaza Strip, Adham’s life is still quite fragile.
Dr. Andrew Elkwood, chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at Monmouth Medical Center, who led a team of surgeons through Adham’s procedure, said the 10-year-old is still not quite out of the woods. The surgery, which transplanted nerves from Adham’s stable right leg into the "multi-faceted" injury in his left leg, does not avoid the risk of infection, the doctor added.
Despite the circumstances, the 10-year-old never ceases to smile, Dr. Elkwood said.
As one of two groups that perform nerve transplants in the United States, Dr. Elkwood said the surgical team receives rare opportunities to assist individuals from across the globe and those with varying backgrounds.
When asked what Adham’s surgery in the United States symbolizes, Dr. Elkwood, who is Jewish, noted how politics can often be irrelevant in relationships.
All of the organizations, representatives and volunteers that contributed to Adham’s slow recovery recognize how the incident brought divergent backgrounds and agendas together for one cause.
Although Adham is slated to return to Gaza in the spring, the contributions garnered over the past several weeks whether offers to transport the 10-year-old or donate clothing reveal the compassion and benevolence many New Jersey residents have, Ms. Whisnant said.
"When buildings are falling all around you, children get trapped," Ms. Whisnant noted. "I think that (bringing Adham to New Jersey) helps to put a human face on all the suffering. We need to know when we fire missiles that there are people on the other end of it," she added.

