Message from Raed:

It all began when my mother, Amna, was washing her face in the winter of 2007. It was the first time she felt electric shocks, in the right side of her face. Back then, they only lasted a few seconds, two or three times a day.

Day in day out, these electric shocks started to worsen, increasing in strength and frequency. Mum also felt a constant headache, and her face was burning so that she couldn’t touch it, or let anyone or anything get close to it. Mum was terrified of what was happening to her. Once my mother learned her illness was Trigeminal Neuralgia, she was devastated. Gaza's doctors informed us that it’s a chronic disease, and to us, it seemed from that moment like they gave up on her. Aside from the love and support of her family, only her faith in God and her prayers kept her going.

In Gaza, since 2007, we literally went to all the doctors we could find for the sake of finding a solution for mum's disastrous illness. Unfortunately, their solutions were only pricey drugs and painkillers, considering her case to be otherwise untreatable. They kept giving her more powerful drugs to the point where her body became immune to them, rendering them ineffective. My family does not fault the doctors in Gaza; the ongoing Israeli blockade has lead to total devastation of Gaza's health care system. There are so many medical needs in the besieged Gaza Strip that are not met.

With each year, my mum grows weaker. and her pain and misery increases.

However, there is a procedure in Turkey with an 80% success rate, and will provide my mother with the relief she so desperately deserves.

The cost of the surgery itself is $9000, not including the extra test, medications, and travel fees. My family is committed to my Mum having this life-giving opportunity, We have already gotten her to Turkey (no easy feat from Gaza) and are now trying to raise $10,000 to cover the full costs of the surgery and aftercare.

Whatever help you can give to me--to my family--to my Mum--is so appreciated.

Thank you all 🙏🏼

[Raed, 24, is a Palestinian youth activist and story-teller from Gaza, and a writer for We Are Not Numbers. His support team for this campaign consists of multiple friends and colleagues in the U.S and the U.K.]