11 December 2017•Update: 12 December 2017
By Ozkan Beyer
GAZIANTEP, Turkey
Seven-year-old Sheima Tafili, who lost her eyesight as a result of a rocket attack presumably perpetrated by Syrian regime forces, dreams of recovery.
"While we were coming to Turkey [from Syria’s Aleppo province] with my family, our vehicle was attacked by the rocket of the regime forces. My ten-year-old son lost his life; my daughter lost her eyesight,” mother Beraim Tafili tells Anadolu Agency.
After the attack, Beraim took Sheima to Turkey's southeastern Gaziantep province where she has been receiving treatment since that "dark day".
“I have been coming to Turkey for two years. I’m struggling my daughter’s treatment,” adds Beiram, who still lives in Syria.
Sheima suffered a head injury and healed thanks to the treatment in Turkey.
“There is nothing to do for her eyes, there is no treatment for it in Turkey. My child should be treated abroad. We applied to several hospitals through our relatives in the U.S. and Canada,” says the mother.
“My daughter wants to be able to see. She misses her school the most. She wants to play with her friends,” she says, adding that she wants to see her run and be happy.
Sheima remains lively despite her loss of sight.
“My biggest dream is to become a doctor. I want to cure the patients like me,” she says.
Numerous Syrians come to Turkey to receive medical treatment.
Turkey hosts more than 3.2 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world.
The country has spent $30 billion from its own national resources to help and shelter refugees since the beginning of the Syrian civil war which is in its seventh year.
