A rising Lebanese soccer star was hit by an Israeli airstrike and put into a coma

Celine Haidar, a famous Lebanese football player, is in a medically induced coma after being seriously hurt in an Israeli attack near her home in the southern areas of Beirut. This means that she will not be able to play in the international championships this year.

The 19-year-old was captain of her club team and had already played on the national youth team twice. She refused to let Israel’s bombing stop her training, even though her family had already left for a mountain town east of Beirut.

She talked her parents into letting her go home by herself so she could keep training. She told them she would leave every time the Israeli army issued an evacuation order for a neighborhood it was planning to bomb.

Last Saturday, though, she missed the message.

She was asleep when the Israeli military spokesperson put up a sign telling people in her area to leave. When her parents called, they told her to leave right away, but time was running out.

As she jumped on her motorcycle, an Israeli warplane hit her. Her brain was badly hurt when shrapnel hit her, breaking several bones in her head and causing brain bleeding.

The Israeli military wasn’t able to say anything about the strike right away.

Her coach, Samer Barbary, says she is now in the urgent care unit of Saint George Hospital in Beirut, hooked up to monitors and a breathing tube and with a bandage on her head.

Abbas Haidar and Sanaa Shahrour, her parents, are watching over her and hoping for a miracle while they try to understand what happened to their daughter.

Her dad said, “I never thought I would have a daughter like her.” His voice was moving. “She has hopes and is strong.” “Every day she told me, ‘You’ll see what I do?'”

Over 15,000 people have been hurt by Israeli attacks in the last year. In the last two months, the attacks on the areas of Beirut have gotten a lot worse.

The Israeli military says it is attacking Hezbollah’s infrastructure. The suburbs, as well as south and east Lebanon, were bases for the armed group.

The health office of Lebanon says that more than 3,500 people have been killed, including more than 670 women and 230 children.

“We are waiting for you” is written on a poster that Haidar’s friends have put up at their practice field.

Lama Abdin, 18, one of her teammates, said, “She is the rock of our team.” “But we’ll play for her.” We will make her big dreams come true.”

As a player, Haidar had already played for Lebanon twice, the first time being on the under-19 team that won the West Asia Cup in 2022, which was held in Lebanon. He said that she had already been picked for the seniors’ national team and would likely be picked for the upcoming West Asia tournament.

Doctors say they don’t know when she will wake up again, but her mother, Sanaa, hasn’t given up hope.

“I’m ready for you. Do not give up. You are a hero. “I dream about you coming back to me every night,” she told Reuters.