Lebanese football star wakes from coma caused by Israeli airstrike
Lebanese football talent Celine Haidar has awakened from a coma nearly two months after suffering a head injury during an Israeli airstrike.
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Nearly two months after being placed in a medically-indued coma due to a critical head injury sustained during an Israeli airstrike, Lebanese football star Celine Haidar has finally awakened.
Celine’s father, Abbas Haidar, confirmed that his daughter awoke a few days ago, though he noted that she “still cannot talk easily, and remains under extensive treatment.”
“By the grace of Allah she has awakened from coma but she remains in ICU as she cannot speak and still requires a ventilator to help her breathe properly,” Haidar told the Saudi state-owned Arab News. He noted that Celine was able to recognize her family and has been communicating with them through written notes.
The 19-year-old was struck by an Israeli shell during an attack on the Chiyah neighbourhood in southern Beirut on Nov. 16, 2024. The shrapnel hit her in the head causing massive head trauma that led to her being placed in a medically induced coma.
Haidar represented her country as a member of the under-19 women’s national team who won the 2022 West Asia Cup. She also captained the Beirut Football Academy (BFA) senior women’s team to a historic league title in the 2023-24 season. Coach Samer Barbary, hopes she will be able to return to the pitch in the near future.
“When I asked if she still wants to play football, she pressed on my hand and moved her right leg in an obvious sign of wanting to do so,” Barbary said.
The conflict between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Israel reignited on Oct. 8, 2023, when Hezbollah launched rocket attacks on Israel in solidarity with the Hamas-led attacks that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israeli civilians the previous day. By September 2024, Israel intensified its operations in Lebanon, detonating electronic devices belonging to Hezbollah members in deliberate acts of terrorism. They also assassinated the group’s leading figures, including Hassan Nasrallah.
By October 2024, Israel’s military launched an invasion of southern Lebanon, resulting in the deaths of thousands of Lebanese civilians and displacing over a million people. It was the deadliest conflict Lebanon has faced in nearly three decades, crippling the economy and destroying countless villages and communities along the border. A 60-day ceasefire was eventually agreed to in November 2024—11 days after Haidar was injured in an airstrike.
News of Haidar’s coma ignited widespread outrage and sorrow, serving as a stark reminder of the devastating human toll exacted by Israel’s wars in the Middle East. Haidar, a beloved athlete caught in the crossfire, became a poignant symbol of the innocent lives shattered by conflict.
According to the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), at least 644 athletes have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the past 15 months. At least 91 of those victims were children, while the list of notable names is Hany Al-Masdar, a former player and manager of the Olympic team, and Mohammed Barakat, Gaza’s first centurion of goals and a former national team player known as the “Legend of Khan Younis.”
Israel has destroyed or partially damaged no less than 28 football facilities in Palestine since the start of the war, 22 in Gaza and six in the West Bank. These include all of Gaza’s professional football stadiums, as well as the PFA headquarters, which was also targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
While Lebanon’s ceasefire agreement with Israel continues to hold, it remains unclear whether such a deal could be struck in Gaza. On Wednesday, Israeli strikes killed 46 people in the besieged strip, all while U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken claims that a truce and captives-for-prisoners deal is “very close.”
Meanwhile, president-elect Donald Trump reiterated his threat that “all hell will break out” if a ceasefire deal is not reached by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Speaking at a press conference at Mar-a-Lago, Trump added: “It will not be good for Hamas, and it will not be good, frankly, for anyone.”
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