A father and son who had limbs amputated because of the war in Syria will gain a new life in Italy.
Munzir al-Nazzal and little Mustafa star in the photo “Hardship of Life” (“Hardness of Life”, in free translation), taken by Turkish photographer Mehmet Aslan and awarded in the competition Siena International Photo Awards last year.
According to the organizers of the photographic competition, Munzir's family will arrive in Italy on Friday night (21) and will live in Siena, in the bucolic region of Tuscany.
Furthermore, the father and son will be treated at a prosthetics center in Budrio, in province of Bologna, and the festival opened an online fundraiser to help people who suffered amputations during the war in Syria.
“They will live in a Cáritas house in Siena, made available by the archdiocese,” said the artistic director of the Siena International Photo Awards, Luca Venturi. “The communicative power of that photo turned into real support for the family,” he added.
The image in question shows Munzir, who had his right leg amputated because of a bomb, leaning on a crutch and holding Mustafa. The boy was born without legs and arms because his mother was forced to take aggressive medication due to a toxic gas attack in the Idlib region.
Despite the difficulties, Mustafa appears smiling in the hands of his father, who looks at him tenderly. The family fled Syria more than three years ago and lived in southern Turkey, where the photo was taken. Due to the malformations, the boy needs continuous treatment and special prosthetics.
Started in 2011, the war in Syria has left more than 350 dead and around 13 million displaced. (ANSA)
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