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Celine Haidar, the soccer champion, almost played for the first time with the Lebanese national team in international forums, but the nineteen-year-old did not expect her name to be associated with the news of her lying in intensive care, after suffering a severe head injury following an Israeli raid on Saturday near Beirut.
Several weeks ago, Celine fled with her family from the Chiyah area in the southern suburb of Beirut to the town of Baakleen in Mount Lebanon due to the intensification of Israeli raids on the area.
But “she was forced to go to Beirut to continue her exercises and studies,” as her father, Abbas Haider, told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday, adding that “when the bombing and threats started, she would leave the house, and then return to sleep in the evening.”
Her father says, “I called her in the morning and told her that Avichai (Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman) had issued an eviction notice, so she fled the house.” My wife called me later and told me that Celine was in the hospital after she was hit in the head as a result of a raid that targeted a nearby building.
A poignant video spread on social media showing Celine lying on the ground covered in her blood, with a heartbroken young man screaming next to her.
On Saturday, the southern suburb of Beirut and its outskirts were subjected to a series of Israeli raids that targeted at least ten locations, including buildings in Chiyah, where Celine’s family resides.
Sanaa Shahrour, Celine’s mother, crying, told AFP in front of St. George’s Hospital where her daughter was receiving treatment, “There was a nearby raid and she was hit in the head. She has a bleed in her head and a fracture in her skull.”
With great emotion, the mother recounts how her daughter had sent her a message on the phone at night asking her to prepare a dish she liked. She says that after a short time, she received a call from one of her friends who informed her that Celine was injured and had been taken to the hospital.
– “Fighter on the field” –
Celine was one of the most prominent players during her BFA team’s journey towards winning the Lebanese Women’s League title last season, and she contributed to the Lebanese national team winning the West Asian U-18 Championship in 2022.
The ambitious girl was close to representing Lebanon in its national team and playing her first match against the Iranian national team last month, before the war derailed her plans.
The grieving mother is unable to hold back her tears. She says, bursting into tears, “I pray to God that you will return to us safely… and that you will hold my hand, even just once, and answer me.”
The mother talks at length about the dreams of her daughter, whose friends gather at the hospital every day, hoping that she will return to their ranks.
She repeated with emotion, “My daughter paid a war tax that had nothing to do with her. She is a football player and had many dreams, and they killed her dreams.”
The family is waiting for a miracle that will bring their vibrant daughter back to them.
Her father explains through tears, “The doctors are following her with great interest.” But the damage is great. We hope that it will gradually decrease. We are paying a bill that is not our fault.”
In turn, BFA Club President Ziad Saadeh says, “Celine was placed in an artificial coma and we ask everyone to pray for her so that she returns among us.”
After nearly a year of cross-border escalation between Hezbollah and Israel, the Hebrew state, as of September 23, intensified its raids on the party’s strongholds in southern and eastern Lebanon and the southern suburbs of Beirut. On August 30, it announced the start of “limited” ground incursions.
More than 3,500 people were killed in Lebanon, and more than 15,000 were injured as a result of Israeli raids more than a year ago.
Among the dead were many athletes and members of their families.
To the hospital, Celine’s coach, Samer Barbari, accompanied her teammates to support her. He spoke passionately to AFP about her advantages as a defensive midfielder. “She is a fighter on the field,” he says. The link between defense and attack. “She is a great girl and a great player.”
He explained, “She would be with the first team in its upcoming participations and carry the captain’s armband in our team next season.”
In light of the recent round of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah, on September 24, the Lebanese Football Association postponed all its activities, including the first-class general league championship.
Celine’s mother says with great emotion, “She loved life very much… and her dream was to become a heroine and have the whole world talk about her, but today the whole world is talking about her because she was injured in a war that had nothing to do with her.”
Deko-Jaish/Lair
