Barrett~!

Trapped in a Parcel on a Shelf - Submitted by SeesawSiya

I am Inas, a mother of two young children: Muhammad, 7 years old, and Hala, 5 years old. They should have been living their childhood like all children—safe and warm in the embrace of their father. But the war has stolen that dream from us😭😭😭

Six months ago, my husband Anas, a kind-hearted man who endured a life of poverty, was killed by a random shell while on his way to work as a taxi driver. Since that tragic day, I’ve been left to carry the unbearable weight of life alone.

I held a diploma in international secretarial studies and was about to start a job to help support my family. But the war shattered not only our home but also my hopes and dreams. We’ve been displaced six times and now live in a tent that offers no shelter from the bitter cold or the ever-looming fear.

My young children face relentless hunger that weakens their fragile bodies and a cold that knows no mercy for their small hearts. Each day, their cries for warmth and food grow louder, and each day, I feel more helpless to provide them with even the basics of life💔😭😭

I appeal to your humanity, to your compassion. We need your help to survive, to find a safe shelter, and to feed my children. Your generosity could be the reason Muhammad and Hala continue to live and find hope amidst this darkness🥹

Please, help me keep the light of these innocent children from being extinguished by this cruel world

Donation Link

- being in a wheelchair

Things that actually suck about having a spinal cord injury:

- catheters (intermittent self catheterization, indwelling, whatever)

- bowel programs

- incontinence

- sexual dysfunction

- UTIs

- keeping your skin safe

- spasticity

- neuropathic pain

- PTSD

- healthcare costs (about $100k per year for me for the rest of my life, so I will die if I lose my health insurance)

- hidden costs (modified car, accessible apartment, increased cost of travel, adaptive items)

- temperature dysregulation

this is based on a recent in-person interaction through a support group.

i was paralyzed, in the grand scheme of things, SUPER recently, so i understand how it feels to be disabled in both an apparent way and a non-apparent way. i’ve had the condition that contributed to my paralysis (cEDS) my whole life, and it causes plenty of other complications.

it’s frustrating to have a non-apparent disability. there are unique challenges that come with having a non-apparent disability. it is ALSO frustrating to have an apparent disability. my treatment by other people has 100% changed since my sci, and not necessarily for the better.

a few ambulatory people seem to have this idea that being paralyzed from the waist down means you’re able-bodied sans your legs and you suddenly have endless empathy and help from society. this, i would hope goes without saying, is absolutely not true.

paraplegia is often caused by some underlying condition, meaning plenty of paralyzed people are also independently chronically ill. even in the case of injury or accident-induced paralysis, the paralysis itself causes all kinds of lovely symptoms, including muscle spasms and bladder retention or incontinence. i have to self-catheterize. incomplete SCIs can cause nerve pain. the act of using a manual chair to get around in public at all times can mean damage to the upper body and pressure sores.

i’ve had a few more doors held for me now that i’ve started going out in public alone, but being so apparently disabled also means stares. everywhere. not just from kids. it means people feel like they can push you out of the way to reach something in the grocery store. it means people will speak to you like you’re an elementary schooler. it means that even on your good days, other people will remind you of your disability and ask invasive questions about your “car accident.”

i’m not interested in the apparent-vs.-non-apparently suffering olympics, i’m just hoping to offer what seems like an underexpressed perspective.