Mustafa was standing outside his home in Aleppo when the jet flew over. He has no memory of what happened next but he regained consciousness many days later in Turkey.
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Lebanon is trying to help Syrian refugees, writes Rachel Smalley, but the problem is so huge most people who need medical help are turned away.
Mustafa was standing outside his home in Aleppo when the jet flew over.
He has no memory of what happened next but he regained consciousness many days later in Turkey.
"A bomb hit our house and I was hit by shrapnel," he says.
He was taken to a Turkish field hospital, 45km away on the Syrian border. He was confused when he woke. His left arm had been amputated just below the shoulder, his head throbbed and he was blind in both eyes.
He remained in the field hospital for three months while surgeons operated on his head wound.
"They removed a piece of my skull that was fractured." He also had surgery to restore sight to one eye.
Mustafa's head open wound. Photo / Jo Currie / World Vision
That was three years ago, and when we meet Mustafa and his family in a refugee camp in Lebanon, he looks feverish and in pain.
"I feel very ill. There is a problem with my head wound." He removes the black and white keffiyeh from around his head, and feels for the white tissue that is sitting in the wound. He says the tissue absorbs blood and "other liquid".
He has had a migraine for weeks but has no access to pain relief and is having difficulty sleeping.
He removes a handkerchief from his pocket and unfolds it to reveal two small pieces of skull. "My wife picked this out of the wound this week," he says.
It is unclear why Mustafa's head wound has opened up again but it is possible a piece of shrapnel or foreign body is still inside his skull placing pressure on the wound, and causing an infection.
Fasha, Mustafa's wife and the mother of his four children, says she woke one morning and noticed there was blood coming from the scar.
"I started screaming. The neighbours heard and came running. We took him to hospital but they said he needed an operation." The hospital said the operation would cost US$1000 ($1370) but it may as well have been $100,000. The monthly aid allowance for refugees is US$19 or US$228 a year. Surgery was out of the question.
Two of Mustafa's children play at his feet while we talk. He smiles at his toddler daughter, Saleh, who is a bundle of mischief with her high pony-tail, cheeky smile and piercing squeals, but Mustafa appears to be in a lot of pain.
He says he can't talk for long because his head is starting to throb, but he smiles and says he is hopeful the wound will mend itself soon.
On our way out we wish him well and hope he has a speedy recovery. He smiles and waves. His face is flushed and he looks hot. There is no doubt his condition is acute.
Two weeks later I contact the World Vision office in Lebanon to ask about Mustafa's health. The email came back later that day.
"Sorry to bring you this news. Mustafa passed away around 10 days ago. He tried to reach out to the hospital many times but the operation required money. Again, I am so sorry to tell you this."
In one day, one man lost his life and five lives were changed forever. And Fasha, at the age of 27, is now a widow looking after four children on her own in a refugee camp.
Desperate need
One of the complexities of the Syrian crisis is the scale of the emergency. More than 12.2 million people need life-sustaining aid in the form of food, water, shelter and sanitation. Healthcare is a secondary issue.
Lebanon, a country of 4 million, has a heavily privatised and expensive health care system. The country supports 1.15 million Syrian refugees but those needing medical assistance or surgical treatment must fund it themselves. Most are turned away.
"There are some primary and mobile health clinics trying to service the refugee camps but the demand is absolutely huge," says Mireille Maatouk, a World Vision Health Specialist.
The World Health Organisation puts the cost of Syria's healthcare need at US$687 million ($940 million). Displaced Iraqis need a further US$218 million. Maatouk says the most common refugee health complaints stem from malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies and that leads to all sorts of conditions such as diarrhoea, skin diseases, typhoid, respiratory infections, hepatitis A and fever.
