BEIRUT 

Lara Hayek has been in a coma for two years since the massive explosion at the Beirut Port in her home country, Lebanon.

On Aug. 4, 2020, Beirut was rocked by a massive explosion that changed the course of events and upended the lives of many people in the country.

More than 200 Lebanese lost their lives and 6,500 of them were injured, while some 50,000 housing units suffered damage, with material losses estimated at about $15 billion.

Authorities believe the explosion was caused by about 2,750 tons of highly explosive ammonium nitrate which had been confiscated from a ship and had been stored at the port for six years.

The explosion took a toll on many victims, including Lara, 43, who has been in a coma since that fateful day.

2 years in hospitals

Lara's mother Najwa Hayek told Anadolu Agency: "At the moment of the explosion, Lara was alone in the house, and she was seriously injured in the head and eyes. After the explosion, I went straight home from my work to find Lara covered in blood to begin a tormenting journey to find a vacant hospital in the middle of great destruction."

"After I found a hospital in Beirut, the nurses and doctors didn’t rush to help Lara immediately, but took care of the most severe cases instead. After her body had completely cooled down, I started screaming and begging for them to come to help her," she said.

The mother said Lara "fell into a coma after her heart stopped for a while and then she stayed in the American University Hospital in Beirut for three months before she was transferred to the Bhanes Hospital.”

Mother-daughter bond

It’s not easy for a mother to see her only daughter in this condition. She said that her husband died in 2019 and her son now lives outside the capital.

"I consider Lara my friend, not just my daughter, and we used to live for each other but after the explosion, I lost my reason for living," she explained.

She continued sadly: "Today I feel like a robot, I wake up and go to work, then I go home alone, but I avoid my daughter's room."

She said she feels great pain when she sees her daughter with a beating heart but lifeless body, without any words or movement.

Lara suffers from brain damage and it is not known when she might regain consciousness and recover, according to the mother.

The mother said she "hasn’t lost hope, even though all the doctors have."

"I have great faith that Lara will return to me, and I’m waiting for her to wake up, whatever her condition,” Hayek said.

No help from government

On the cost of hospitalization for the last two years, Hayek said a foundation of Lebanese men living in Kuwait took care of the treatment for a time, after which a local association took over.

“All the aid was from philanthropists, amid a complete absence of the government, which didn’ ask about us for a single day," she explained.

Saying the explosion has never been fully explained, Hayek said: "The truth is known, but the government doesn’t want to announce it, and it’s not in its interest to do so.”

Months ago, the investigations into the port blast stopped and since the end of last year, the judicial investigator in the case, Judge Tarek Bitar, has been unable to look into it any further.

Worse than war

Hayek said the day of the Beirut port explosion and its carnage rivaled the 15-year civil war in Lebanon.

"We’ve lived through wars and occupation but we’ve never lived a day like the explosion of the port before," she said.

The civil war erupted in Lebanon from Beirut before spreading to other regions of the country from 1975 to 1990.

The number of its victims was estimated at 150,000 dead, 300,000 wounded and disabled, and 17,000 missing, as well as the emigration of more than one million people and material losses exceeding $100 billion.

Since the port explosion, the families of victims of the blast have been holding vigils to demand accountability for those involved, but accusations against judicial investigator Tarek Bitar by former government officials who are suspects brought his probe to a halt.

*Writing by Bassel Barakat