Eileen, the child who bled alone tonight. Just as Hind and Yusuf bled to death before her, and just as thousands of children have perished in blood over these long months. Tonight, Eileen bears witness to the world’s failure and feels it in every fibre of her shattered, bleeding body.

I know, I decided not to share anything with the world anymore, believing that sharing our suffering doesn’t end it, and that nothing I#ve shared has saved even a single child. But tonight, I cannot remain silent. The world must witness, the world must feel the sorrow with me for what an eight-year-old girl endured, alone, in the darkness, after her house collapsed on top of her, and her entire family as martyrd.

Eileen arrived with no significant visible wounds, but her small body concealed a catastrophe. She was suffering from continuous vomiting, severe abdominal pain, and severe pallor. The imaging revealed severe internal bleeding, and her abdomen resembled a pool filled with blood.

Shivering from cold, she whispered, “I want water.” How do you face her pleading eyes when she doesn’t understand why we refuse to quench her thirst? Her eyes held a terror and pain that no child should ever feel. When we placed the ultrasound on her abdomen, she squirmed in pain, saying, “Please, doctor, don’t press, it hurts.”

When we tried to insert a cannula into her vein she said a sentence that broke my heart: “Don’t worry doctor. I’m used to needles, I’ve been injured before, and so has my family.” She just needed to reassure us that she was strong, even as we tried to calm her.

She was barely conscious, clinging to life as it slowly slipped away. We struggled to find a pediatric surgeon to save her, while her vital signs deteriorated before our eyes. We transferred blood, but she grew paler, colder and thirstier.

Finally we managed to transfer her to the operating room.

All of this happened just moments ago, in the same world where billions of people live, most of whom decided that Eileen, all Gazan children deserve to die on a cold night, alone, thirsty, shivering, in pain. With no family to reassure them that everything would be alright.

There’s no end to this story!