I'm Maddie, I live in Sydney, and I have been communicating with Mohamed in Gaza. Mohamed is one of the many, many Palestinians trying to keep himself and his family safe from bombardment and starvation in the Gaza Strip. Mohamed was seriously injured in a bombing, and now requires spinal surgery that cannot be performed in Gaza at the moment. Any money raised will be transferred directly to Mohamed, and will go towards funding Mohamed's medical evacuation for surgery, as well as helping Mohamed and his family buy food and medical supplies. Mohamed sent the following message:

Dear World,

I'm reaching out to you with an immense hope.

You are fortunate enough to be living in a safe and stable situation in this world. Your life–and others–may be far away from Palestine, but I believe that violence begets more violence and that whenever you have the capacity to make a small action towards harm, you should act.

I'm Mohamed one of the most famous athletes in the Gaza Strip. I'm captain of the Rafah basketball team and a coach for both children's teams and the Palestinian national team for wheelchair basketball. My life has revolved around working for my community through my love of basketball. While my team was playing at an international tournament, the war destroyed my life's work. The bombing destroyed my home and the gymnasium where I played and coached. My family, including my three young children, have fled from the ruins of their home and now live in refugee tents.

In November, the family suffered an unimaginable loss.

On top of killing 13 family members, the explosion seriously injured (me) Mohamed. My spine was fractured and dislocated in two places: my thoracic (middle back) and cervical (neck). I also sustained injuries to my knee joint and finger ligament. While I'm underwent surgery for my thoracic spine, local doctors are unable to treat my neck injury. The Ministry of Health recommended to leave the country for cervical spine fixation surgery. Because I'm 30, I was not considered a priority for medical evacuation. Unfortunately, I wasn't recently able to receive a cervical surgery.

These days Rafah crossing is opening for injured people, so I need your help to travel abroad and get my medical treatment and for my medical evacuation.

My beloved wife is newly pregnant with her child. “I am sad about my pregnancy in these bad circumstances,” she told me before the ceasefire. She was very happy about the new child but proper nutrition and safe living conditions remain difficult to secure.

I also suffer from the injuries sustained in the bombing that killed my family. We’re hoping that the influx of aid means I can receive treatment. Between my injuries and the complete lack of infrastructure, my family have no foreseeable income.

As ever, I am grateful for your support, whether in the form of donations or sharing my story.

Mohamed