Young Syrian refugee overcomes loss of leg, embraces life in Edmonton
'This is how life is going to be and I can't do much about it and I have to move on' says 13-year-old
Ahmed Elkureji leaves his bedroom, slides down a few stairs using his good arm, then leaps the rest of the way, landing on his only leg.
From there, he hops to the door, slips on his shoe and gets on his motorized scooter.
"I just act as if I have two legs," says Ahmed, 13, a gleam in his eye.
Living without a leg isn't slowing him down, but he wishes his scooter could go as fast as the motorbike he used to ride on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria.
Ahmed has come a long way, both emotionally and geographically, since Feb. 13, 2013. On that day he heard a rocket whizzing toward his family home as he ate olives while his mother read the Qur'an and his brother was about to head out for a haircut.
Instead, Ahmed awoke to his sister's screams. She was tugging at their mother's good hand, the other cut up by the rocket that had also sliced his brother's belly.
He looked down to see his own leg — also shredded.
'I was like a piece of meat'
Ahmed tried to get up to run and fell to the ground. Shrapnel had pierced his face. The only place first responders could get a grip to lift him from the debris was his left shoulder.
"I was like a piece of meat," he said.
Over the next five months, Ahmed drifted in and out of consciousness in a hospital in Turkey.
When he finally woke up, he learned his mother and older brother had died. Ahmed tried to get up and fell off his bed. "That's when I realized I didn't have my leg," he said.
It didn't scare him. Instead, with the help of his father, the boy who loved running, doing flips, hiking in the mountains, harvesting olives with his dad and tightrope walking, began to experiment.
"I just wanted to feel how the rest of my life would look like in terms of movement," he said.
I thank God for everything- Ahmed Elkureji
"It's just a realization of facts. This is how life is going to be and I can't do much about it and I have to move on. I thank God for everything."
Ahmed tried jumping, but it wasn't easy. Crutches didn't work because of the deep gouge in his forearm. When he used a wheelchair he kept running it into the wall, until he figured out a way to operate it using his remaining leg and good arm.
"Ever since I was able to move on in life," he said.
'I just need my leg'
But while Ahmed has moved on, his physical healing is far from over. He's undergone 22 surgeries with more to come to relieve the pain in his arm and straighten out his fingers.
His father Yasir Elkureji, who was out when the missile killed half his family, recalled comforting his son before those surgeries. He told him if he died, he would meet his mother and brother.
I found a lot of strength in Ahmed's journey.- Yasir Elkureji, Ahmed's father
"Even when I said that to him I would see hope in Ahmed's eyes and that brought joy to me," said Elkureji.
"I found a lot of strength in Ahmed's journey."
The Elkureji family has been in Canada four months as government assisted refugees.
Edmontonian Rizwana Sohail, who volunteers her time supporting Syrian refugees, recalled the first time Ahmed shared his story. She asked him what he needed on her next visit.
Doctors at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital have since said a prosthetic leg is not possible at this point but will continue to assess the teen.
Ahmed's supporters hope it can be done after he grows and there is more bone for a limb to be attached to.
In the meantime, Sohail worked with the group Edmonton Refugee Volunteers to raise $3,000 to buy Ahmed the scooter. They are also raising cash to alter a donated bike, so Ahmed can ride it.
If Ahmed does not qualify to have his wheelchair fully paid for by the government, the group plans to raise money for that too.
'He's so courageous'
"He's so courageous," said Sohail. "He's not disappointed with life. He wants to do lots in his life. He just needs a spark and he's good to go.
"He can do anything in the world and I want him to fulfil all his dreams."
Last October, not long before Ahmed came to Canada, he set his sights on climbing a tree taller than any he'd ever climbed.
"I didn't think about my leg," he said, recalling the feeling that day of looking down on rooftops. "I accomplished what I wanted to do."
As far as his dreams go, Ahmed said nothing has changed. He has no doubt whatever happens he will still become a dentist, engineer or pharmacist so he can help people.
"But ideally I would have a bionic leg," he said.
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