‘I woke up like Superman’: 5-year-old survivor of Israeli war

On October 21, 2023, an Israeli airstrike targetted the home of five-year-old Kenzie al Madhoun in central Gaza, injuring her severely. Five days later when she miraculously woke up from a coma, her father told her she had woken up like a superhero. She now likes to repeat those words as well.

“I woke up like Superman… or Batman,” Kenzie, who’s undergoing medical treatment in the Turkish capital city of Ankara, tells TRT World.

Minutes before the strike, Kenzie was playing with her grandfather in their garden. Her grandfather couldn’t survive the attack.

Bleeding profusely and thought to be lifeless, Kenzie was mistakenly placed in a makeshift tent that served as a morgue. Next to it was another tent where doctors operated on the injured with minimal tools. One of the paramedics noticed Kenzie’s breathing and immediately transferred her to the recovery tent.

Examining her, they saw the blast had torn her skin from the back of her skull, fracturing it, and also caused her to lose her arm. According to her father, Adam al Madhoun, her arm was so severely damaged that they couldn’t collect pieces to take to the hospital.

“Kenzie was one of the lucky children. Amid the chaos and fear, someone noticed that she might still be alive,” says Adam, a 35-year-old father of three.

“She underwent many surgeries—in her head, leg, bladder, and cosmetic procedures, both initial and secondary,” her father tells TRT World.

Waiting by her side in the ICU at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital during the five days she was in a coma, Kenzie’s father spent his time fearing that his daughter might not wake up.

“Alhamdulilah (Thank God), when she spoke, when she saw—when she heard me when she heard the family around her… she talked to us and remembered old events,” he says.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed nearly 17,000 children, with an average of 46 children killed every day since October 7, 2023.

Among those who have survived, at least 1500 children have lost limbs or eyes or suffered permanent disabilities, with over a thousand children having one or both legs amputated, often without anesthesia due to the Israeli blockade of medical supplies.

Türkiye’s helping hand

Kenzie first sought treatment in Egypt, arriving on November 17. On December 12, 2023, she and her father traveled to Türkiye for further surgeries.

They are now under the Turkish government's supervision, where Kenzie has undergone multiple surgeries.

When Kenzie arrived in Türkiye, her skull was still where she underwent leg and pelvic surgeries, and her mother remained in Egypt to continue her own treatment.

“Kenzi first had surgery on her leg in Türkiye, where doctors inserted platinum rods,” her father explains. The Turkish government has supported their care, from their arrival at Al Arish airport to the medical procedures and surgeries performed in Türkiye.

While the doctors in Türkiye have carried out necessary surgeries, Kenzie still needs further procedures, including cosmetic treatments and the fitting of a prosthetic limb.

‘Am I the only one?’

When asked about her daily routine, Kenzie still goes back to her happy memories in Gaza. Like any other 5-year-old, she chuckles and says, “I drink milk, eat cornflakes, and have my breakfast.”

“Then I exercise and go out to play with my friends. I love swimming in the pool. I play games and stuff like that.”

Kenzie still believes she is in Gaza to this day.

Her father explains, “Sometimes she asks me – ‘aren't we going to Al Maqousi (her grandfather’s house) or, how will we get to Jabalia camp?’”.

“Even though I explain to her, ‘Sweetheart, we are far from them. Once the crossing opens, we’ll go,’ she makes me feel guilty, as if I don’t want to take her—as if we could just leave the hotel, take a taxi, and go there.”

“We love Gaza so much, despite all the difficulties and the tragic conditions. Because Gaza represents family, friends—it’s not just a piece of land we live on.”

Adam explains that Kenzie is struggling to adjust to her new reality. “At first, she had a really hard time emotionally,” he says. “The first thing she would notice when someone visited her while she was lying in bed was their hands.”

“‘Dad, am I the only one who woke up with no hand?,’” she once asked her father, wondering if amputation had become a norm in Gaza or if she was the only unlucky one.

Refusing to believe that she will have to navigate the world with one arm missing, she would often tell her father that she wanted to “wear clothes like other people, with both sleeves,’ and wanted to comb her hair with own hand.

“With Kenzi’s recovery and her determination, she is doing well, although there are still moments when both Kenzi and I feel weak,” the father says.

“I sometimes forget there's no right hand. When changing her clothes, I’ll dress her left side and ask, ‘Give me your other hand,’ and she’ll look at me and say, ‘Daddy, there’s no hand’”.

Determined to pursue dreams

Before Israel waged war on Gaza, Kenzie earned two swimming certificates at the age of four and trained with a group of children in a Gaza sports club.

“She received the first certificate, then the second, and she was eager to continue,” Adam says.

After recovering from the surgeries, she expressed her wish to continue swimming.

“One day, she opened YouTube and told me, ‘Dad, I saw someone swimming with one arm. Can someone do this or that without arms?”

War on everything

For Adam, Kenzie’s suffering represents the suffering of tens of thousands of children in Gaza, many of whom could not survive Israel’s brutal bombings and many of whom lost their limbs or families.

“I believe the world must stop this war on women, children, and the elderly. Gaza needs support—whether medical, economic, or in terms of moral and political stances,” Adam says.

Kenzie now spends her days in Ankara along with her father and other displaced Palestinian families.

She and her father visit Ankara City Hospital at least twice a week for her ongoing treatment and check-ups. The Turkish government has been taking care of the medical procedures and lodging. They stay in a hotel in the city centre.

“Sometimes we take the children somewhere—just a place where they can enjoy themselves. It’s for them,” Adam says.

Despite making efforts to make her daughter move on in life, Adam says the pain and sorrow continues to linger around.

“We still carry the burden of loss,” he says.