How 10-year-old Malek lost his leg

“I just want a leg. I want a leg,” Malek Seylu cried in Arabic after I asked him what he wanted. It was an obvious answer to such an obvious question.

Less than a month ago, Malek, 10, lost his left leg. All that’s left is a small portion of his upper thigh. The wound is still fresh and he is still in pain.

Sitting down, wincing from the pain, he told us his story.

As Malek was walking home one day, shelling could be seen from afar. Children were playing in the streets and he told them to hide until the shelling stopped.

“I put them in a room and closed the door to make sure they wouldn’t leave,” he said. “I stayed outside to watch it because I thought it was far away from me. One hit me before I knew it.”

Malek Seylu, 10, was hit by shells near his home.

Malek ensured children playing on the street were safe before he went home.

The wound is still fresh. He lost his leg less than a month ago.

He told us his story in an apartment that houses injured Syrians. It is located in Reyhanli, Turkey — a town located on the Turkish-Syrian border. Many have escaped Syria and found a haven here. Here, they are provided food, a place to sleep and even medication.

Malek was also housed in this apartment at one point, but now he stays at a hospital where he can be better taken care of.

“When I saw him I thought he was dead. I said ‘God have mercy on him,'” said a young man who witnessed what happened to Malek. “When he (Malek) woke up he asked me why I said he was dead. He heard all of it.”

Malek started to itch the leg that wasn’t there — a phenomenon called phantom limb syndrome. Watching him desperately itch what wasn’t there was heartbreaking. He can’t sleep because of it, he said.

My uncle, who brought medication for the people housed here, asked Malek what he thought about getting a new leg from America.

Malek’s eyes lit up for the first time that night.