I wrote this in December 2014. It’s a real life story that had happened, and this is a conversation between me and a woman I met at the hospital.
…
The other day, I was visiting a relative of mine in the ICU. After I checked on her and made sure she was fine, I went to sit in the waiting hall.
I didn’t know what to do, so I took out my notebook and started adding more to a story that I had been writing earlier.
As I was deep into the story, I heard someone close to me ask,
“Who do you have here?”
I looked up, it was an older woman sitting next to me.
“A relative.” I said.
“May Allah heal her.” The older woman said in a sad tone.
“Thank you,” I replied. “What about you, who do you have here?”
“My son.” Her eyes were teary.
“What’s wrong with him?”
“They just removed a bullet from his head.”
“Oh, really?!” I was surprised. “Who shot him?”
“It was a random bullet.”
“You don’t know where it came from?”
“No, he was walking home. I think it came from a graduation party closeby.”
‘Oh, yah…’ I thought to myself. ‘Some people celebrate here by shooting bullets in the air.’
“I’m really sorry to hear that, I hope he will be fine inshaAllah.”
I didn’t know what words I might tell her that could comfort her.
“Thank you dear.” She smiled slightly.
I was curious to know his story, but I didn’t want to ask more.
“You know,” she said looking at the entrance to the ICU, “He came home that night telling me that he thinks someone from the neighborhood threw a rock to his head.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, “He didn’t know he was shot?”
“No, none of us knew.” She shook her head, “We didn’t know until 12 days later.”
“How is that possible?” I was confused.
“12 days after he was shot, he had hemiplegia.”
This means half of his body became paralyzed.
She continued, “After we took him to the hospital, they told us he had a metal object in his head, then later on we found out it was a bullet.”
Poor man, he probably never expected to be shot randomly while walking home.
The sad part is that the bullet came from a celebration.
Some people celebrate foolishly and make others mourn, how selfish.
You want to know what’s even more sad?
She told me that he lived with the bullet in his head for 1 year and 4 months.
The doctors said as long as it is not moving, they shouldn’t remove it.
However, after all that time, it had moved slightly and he fell again.
This lead him to go through surgery to remove it.
As I sat next to the older woman, I saw a young boy crying while his grandfather hugged him.
“This is my grandson.” She said with a raspy voice. “He just saw his father with his head wrapped in gauze.”
“How old is your son?”
“He is 40, and he has 5 kids.”
I didn’t know how to feel at that moment.
“InshaAllah everything will be fine.” I told her confidently. “God willing, he will be back with his kids soon.”
I hope this injured man will be in good health surrounded by his family very soon, and let’s not celebrate with bullets. Let’s not turn a celebration into a funeral.
…
The Good news is that a year later, Jordan had banned the use of firearms in any celebration. I sit back now and wonder how is this woman doing now? How is her son? I pray that both of them are doing well and in good health.
Hello, Sunshine 