A perilous 72-hour escape from Lebanon to Canada saves the life of a two-year-old boy with severe von Willebrand disease.
 Following 10 anxious days, the Khalife family from Hamilton, Ontario, arrived safely home last July after being caught in hostilities in southern Lebanon.
They faced not only the terror of bombings, but also fears for the survival of two-year-old Kareem. He has type III von Willebrand disease (vWD), the most severe form of vWD, and a factor VIII inhibitor. This rare combination makes him susceptible to spontaneous intra-cranial bleeds. He requires an intravenous infusion of concentrated coagulation factors three times a week.
Kareem and his parents, Hassan and Lina, and his brother Ali, 9, and sister Lamise, 4, had left Canada in June to spend part of the summer with relatives in Ghazieh, south of Beirut. But on July 12, war broke out.
The physician treating Kareem, Dr. Mohan K.R. Pai of McMaster University in Hamilton, says that the Khalife family was well prepared for their visit. “Kareem left for Lebanon with a sufficient quantity of factor concentrate for the duration of the trip. But when they were caught in Ghazieh, unable to move, the supply of his medication became critical.”
“At first, we thought the conflict wouldn’t last,” said Lina Khalife, “but when two bridges were destroyed and the bombs kept falling, we realized it was a war.
 “There was no power at all for four days, then only for a few hours a day. It was hard to get food; we had to get by with what was in the house.
“Communications were difficult. My brother-in-law in Canada registered us for evacuation but we were unable to get in contact with the Canadian Embassy in Beirut.”
The family became more and more concerned for their safety, and that of Kareem. So did Dr. Pai, who was in regular contact with the family. On July 18, he contacted the WFH and the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS) to ask for help in getting the Khalifes evacuated.
Both organizations used their contacts within the Canadian government to alert the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kareem’s critical medical situation. Dr. Pai’s support as a physician proved invaluable. By early on July 19, the department had designated Kareem as their top priority for evacuation and a massive effort began to find a way to get him home.
On July 20, through the combined efforts of the Hamilton and Kingston hemophilia treatment centres, CHS staff, and the Canadian military, an emergency shipment of factor VIII-VWF concentrate and factor VIIa concentrate was rushed to Trenton Airbase and on to Cyprus.
On July 21 began the Khalife family’s harrowing flight to safety.
“It was the longest journey of my life,” said Lina. “We started out in my dad’s car and then switched to a taxi. A trip that normally takes 45 minutes took five hours. We had to go up into the mountains to find passable roads. Israeli planes were constantly overhead. Every second you imagined you would be bombed.”
On instructions from the Canadian Embassy, the Khalifes made their way to a Beirut stadium and from there to the British evacuation centre. They boarded a Canadian Air Force helicopter and, along with 20 other medical evacuees, flew to a military hospital in Cyprus.
“Kareem had to sit on my lap on the helicopter,” Lina said. “It was boiling hot and he was restless. By the time we arrived, he was covered in bruises.”
The family was met in Cyprus by a Canadian military physician who, under Dr. Pai’s guidance, examined Kareem. The family’s remaining supply of concentrates, exposed to extreme heat, was discarded, and Kareem was infused with the emergency shipment of concentrates sent from Canada.
The Khalifes were installed in a hotel in Larnaca, Cyprus, and 20 hours later evacuated by military aircraft to Montreal where they arrived on July 23. Later that day they flew to Hamilton, the first evacuees from Lebanon to arrive in that city.
“We were so relieved,” Lina said. “I dreamed about this moment. I wondered if I would ever see my family in Canada again. And I thought about my family back in Lebanon. Are they safe?”
Kay Decker, nurse coordinator at the Hamilton Health Sciences Corporation Hemophilia Program, met the family at the airport.
“This was a team effort,” she said later. “Everybody played their parts: the family, Dr. Pai, the CHS, the WFH, Foreign Affairs, the military, the Hamilton and Kingston clinics. It took everybody to make this happen.”
“I thank Dr. Pai every minute of the day,” Lina Khalife said. “And I want to express my gratitude to everybody who helped us get home safely.”
Lina said that her children have recovered from their ordeal. She has contacted her family in Lebanon and they are safe and well.
David Page
WFH VP Communications and Public Policy
Last Updated: January 2007 |
