South Bay doctor Mohammad Subeh helps 15-year-old amputee Ahmed Abu Obayda of Gaza receive medical treatment so he can learn to walk again

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) — On Saturday, a young teenager from Gaza met with supporters who helped bring him to the United States for medical treatment. After a chance encounter in February, a South Bay doctor also played a role in bringing him here.

Warning: This story contains graphic details of the war.

Ahmed Abu Obayda is 15 years old. He lost both legs when he was hit by a rocket fired from an Israeli drone in February while he was picking vegetables near his home in the Gaza town of Khan Yunis.

Ahmed explains that he was hit in the legs, hand and face. His mother shared a video of her destroyed home.

Ahmed knows he is lucky. Not just to be alive, but also to be one of the lucky few whom the Israeli authorities have granted permission to receive medical treatment abroad.

“I was thrilled when I found out I was selected to come to the United States,” Ahmed said through an Arabic translator.

On Saturday, the teen met with supporters in Oakland who were following his journey through his treatments. With the help of Heal Palestine and Shriners Hospital, Ahmed and his mother arrived at San Francisco International Airport in July.

RELATED: 15-year-old Palestinian amputee comes to Bay Area to get prosthetic legs

Since then, his rehabilitation has made good progress. But it was months of grueling treatments, including strength training for his upper body, physical therapy for his left hand and learning to balance and walk. His treatments will last until May next year.

“Ahmed came to me shortly before he died. He was bleeding. The lower extremities were mutilated. His legs were all but gone and were just hanging on pieces of flesh,” said Doctor Mohammad Subeh, an emergency room doctor in Saratoga. “Half of his left hand was gone. He had shrapnel injuries to his limbs and stomach.”

Subeh has conducted two volunteer medical missions to Gaza. On the second day of his first trip, Subeh was the doctor who had to amputate Ahmed’s legs in a makeshift tent hospital – without anesthesia.

“We didn’t have a lot of equipment and medicine available. This made it almost impossible for us to save lives or limbs,” Subeh said.

He says young Ahmed is mature beyond his 15 years.

MORE: Bay Area doctor describes horrific scenes during frontline medical mission in Gaza

“His soul is so beautiful. If you sit and talk with him for a few minutes, you see his perspective on life and gratitude,” Subeh said. “I think we can learn a lot from children like Ahmed in terms of their resilience and their ability to find meaning in their lives.”

Ahmed says he appreciates Subeh very much because he saved his life and because he is what he calls a “brave man.”

Ahmed says it taught him “strength, courage and patience.” He praises God for blessing him to continue his life, even though he knows that so many others in Gaza have died under similar circumstances.

He says Gaza has been destroyed and describes in detail how hard life has become after 14 months of war. There’s not much to fall back on.

He is a football fan, likes video games and, like most teenagers, is involved in social media. He plans to go to college and work in the computer science field. But what Ahmed is not is a victim. He says he is young. And that gives him time to rebuild his life so that he can one day serve his country and his community.