Hisham Awartani, a Palestinian-Irish-American college student, was among three students who were shot in Burlington, Vermont in an unprovoked attack in November. Local media reports said citing his family that he has been partially paralysed from the chest down because of the bullet injury.
Awartani is a student at Brown University, where he studies math and archaeology. He is also a teaching assistant at the university. He grew up in the West Bank and reportedly speaks seven languages.
Awartani’s mother Elizabeth Price told NBC News recently that her son was paralysed from the mid-torso downward. She said that Hisham may not be able to walk again.
Price said: “He has what they call an incomplete spinal injury, which means that he can feel, but he can’t move the areas that are currently paralysed. He is going into intensive rehab later this week, and we hope that that will help with his prognosis.”
The incident happened when the 20-year-old was taking a walk on November 25 with his childhood friends — Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad — of the same age. A man approached them with a gun and opened fire at all three.
The court documents have shown that Awartani was shot in the spine, Ali Ahmad was shot in the chest, and Abdalhamid was shot in the glute.
They were able to survive, but Awartani’s family stated in a GoFundMe post on Saturday that their son has been could be paralysed permanently as they attempt to raise money for his medical costs. The fundraising effort had reached more than $400,000 toward its $800,000 goal as of midday Sunday.
“He has demonstrated remarkable courage, resilience and fortitude — even a sense of humor — even as the reality of his paralysis sets in,” his family wrote on the GoFundMe page.
“The family is committed to his recovery and remain hopeful, in spite of the grave prognosis,” they added, describing him as a “kind, gentle, brilliant young man with enormous potential”.
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Who was the shooter?
Forty-eight-year-old Jason Eaton was arrested in connection with the shooting, but he has pleaded not guilty to three counts of second-degree attempted murder. The court records show that he is scheduled to appear in court on December 18.
Authorities are also probing whether or not the incident was related to hate crime.
(With inputs from agencies)
