Erin Wilson 
This boy! I spot him as soon as I step into the hallway. He’s holding his mom’s hand and going for a little walk.
His smile is back! I’m not sure I’ve seen anything so beautiful.
He stops for some photos, but Hamam is keen to get to his destination a few doors down the hall: the ward, where moms and kids wait their turn for heart surgery.
Hamam’s very first outing was a visit—he just had to show the other families that he was doing fine!
Next stop? Back to his bed for a little supper: spaghetti, salad, and a little chicken. You know a kid’s feeling better when he slurps back his spaghetti!
It’s the normalcy of the moment that hits me—a mom feeding spaghetti to her son. This same action must be happening in millions of homes around the world today. For a moment, I forget that Hamam escaped the violence of his home town to make it to the hospital. And if not for the beeping monitors all around me, I could almost forget that his lifesaving heart surgery allowed him to escape death a second time.
We are so grateful for everyone who helps make these operations happen for kids like Hamam!
It’s like a whirlwind here! And we have little internet access. As soon as we could, we uploaded a video of Hamam’s story. Over the last day and a half, I’ve been sharing my thoughts as I walked through the surgery with Hamam and his mom. You can read more of his story here.
