“August 4, Beirut Blast… it was just another day until it became Z day!
I recall waking up very energetic after a set of lockdown days.
I put the alarm on, although I had enough time to sleep in and chill, but I wanted to feel the fresh air and water, and swim.
I started the day with coffee, and rushed to the beach, as if this day was escaping from under my feet, I got there, I was chatting with people here and there, and laughing, I was happy… I swam, had lunch, and around 4:00 pm I left, came home to change into clean clothes, and went to see my cousins.
I got there around 5:00 pm, we were sitting and chatting by the window, and suddenly, at 6:07 pm Beirut Time, we heard a bomb depart, followed by airplane, we looked at each other with wonder, then the earth started shaking from under our feet, for few seconds, and 6:08 pm, the BLAST !
Life stopped, in my world, memories of all the wars I survived flashed in front of my eyes, and I just wanted to scream the name of my eldest daughter, she is a Chief Resident Emergency Room at the hospital in the heart of Beirut, to know where she was!
I tried to remain calm, and calming those around me, I was, but only when lines were disconnecting when trying to call my daughter, I would jump…
I opened the app Live 360, to locate her, she was home, yet I couldn’t contact her, and did not know whether I should be happy she was or not, since no one knew what truly happened, and then again I couldn’t connect with her.
We were hearing random messages about the explosion location, all were near her, and with every message received I was calling God and her name, nothing else, out loud, and pain circulating my veins… TVs weren’t broadcasting yet the explosion, and news were not accurate, other than a blast, explosion, in Beirut…
Finally, I was able to talk to her, she was very emotional, all she said my room exploded, I had just stepped out, I was by the door of my room entering the bathroom, and the earth started shaking, I thought it was an earthquake, but seconds later came the blast and the shock!
I left to go to her, and from the car, I called her sister in Cyprus to reassure her that we were all ok, she confirmed hearing and feeling the blast. While driving, and still not knowing the facts, all shops within the drive that was supposed to take 10 minutes and took past an hour, had broken glass, buildings were in a devastating situation, people were standing and driving looking at each other, but really no words could express our shock, then again not knowing what was happening.
Finally, I was close to my daughter’s house, when I receive a call from her telling me she received a call from the hospital as a Disaster Code, and she would be leaving.
Luckily, I reached her house before she left, I parked the car, walked on glass, and with every step, all I could tell myself, God please have mercy upon your people and protect them.
I reach her, hugged her, remembering the first hug I gave her at birth, thanked God for saving her, took pictures of the room and we both left.
I tried to reach Beirut, to help, calls starting coming to stay away in order to allow the red cross and fire department and all needed to pass, traffic was horrible, I came back home, opened the TV to see where and what happened, kept calling people in Beirut to check on them, while my daughter and all those healthcare givers did not have time to catch a safe breath nor patch their wounds whether emotional or physical.
According to my daughter, the hospital was a war zone…
According to the media, the pictures are the truth, but too graphic to post many…
According to me, this story is just another story were the untold and unseen is the bare truth!
According to the truth, basically buildings shall rise again and politicians shall sleep tight, external wounds shall heal, but the trauma of the pictures, the sounds and screaming of the wounded, and the loss of a loved one, shall remain in our mind until eternity”

#MOI
A mother, like many other…
A parent, like many other…
A child, like many other…
A healthcare giver, doctor, like many other…
Beirut, Lebanon, where the truth was buried under the ashes,
Beirut, Lebanon, the country that crashed under the blast of political conflict,
Beirut, Lebanon, we were blessed because the blast and explosion were sucked in the sea,
Beirut, Lebanon, will you ever be Home again…

Author of
*Where is My Angel?
Book by #MOI and Read about the role of Faith in my life

*Mommy, I am a PACER!
Book by #MOI because I believe that children are the future, the change…

Both available on this Amazon link: Badiaa Hiresh amazon.com link to both books
Through the publishers:
Novum Publishing link: Where is My Angel?
Dorrance Publishers link: Mommy I Am a PACER!

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