Leading Lebanese soccer player Celine Haidar remains in a medically induced coma after being seriously injured in an Israeli attack near her home in Beirut’s southern suburbs, with her prospects of winning international competitions on hold.
The 19-year-old, who is captain of his club team and has already featured twice in the youth national team, refused to let the Israeli bombing stop his training even as his family fled to a mountain village east of Beirut.
She persuaded her parents to let her return home alone so she could continue her training, and promised to leave whenever the Israeli military issued an evacuation warning for an area to be bombed.
But last Saturday, she missed the warning.
She was asleep when an Israeli military spokesman posted an evacuation warning for neighbors. Her parents called her and urged her to leave immediately, but time was running out.
As she got on her motorcycle, an Israeli warplane crashed into her. She was hit by shrapnel and suffered severe brain damage, including multiple skull fractures and a brain hemorrhage.
The Israeli military could not immediately comment on the attack.
She is currently in the intensive care unit at Beirut’s St. George’s Hospital with her head bandaged and connected to monitors and a breathing tube, according to coach Samer Barbary.
Her parents, Abbas Haidar and Sanaa Shahrour, are watching her, trying to understand the disaster that has befallen their daughter and praying for a miracle.
More than 15,000 injured in Israeli airstrikes
“I never imagined I would have a daughter like her.” Her father spoke with emotion in his voice. “She has dreams and strength. She always told me, ‘You’ll see what I accomplish tomorrow.'”
She is one of more than 15,000 people injured in Israeli airstrikes over the past year, with bombings on Beirut’s suburbs escalating dramatically over the past two months.
The Israeli military says it is attacking infrastructure belonging to the militant group Hezbollah, which is based in Lebanon’s southern and eastern suburbs.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said more than 670 women and 230 children were among the 3,500 dead.
Haidar’s teammates hung up posters on the training ground saying “We are waiting for you.”
“She is the cornerstone of our team,” said her teammate Lama Abdin, 18. “But we will play for her. We will make her big dream come true.”
Coach Barbary said Haidar had already represented Lebanon twice with the Under-19 team, which won the 2022 West Asia Cup in Lebanon. He said he had already been selected for the senior national team and was expected to be selected for the upcoming West Asia Championships.
Doctors said they didn’t know when she would wake up again, but her mother Sanaa didn’t give up hope.
“I am waiting for you. Don’t give up. You are a hero. Every night in my dreams I see you coming back to me,” she told Reuters.
