Man shares heartbreaking story of his 11-year-old daughter, who was shot in the head as their family attempted to escape ISIS

'This generation is lost, this generation is ruined...for a long time.'

Ahmad Mohammad fled with his wife and their five children from Homs, Syria, in an effort to escape the ISIS threat, but as they ran, his 11-year-old daughter slumped in his arms and he noticed her hair was covered in blood.

LOS ANGELES, CA (California Network) - "Immediately I knew Sara had been shot," Mohammad said. "I was awake, but I couldn't understand the situation. I was present, but I wasn't there. It was as if I was in a different world. I turned to Sara. Her left hand and her left leg stopped moving, she couldn't feel them."

Mohammad and his family drove straight to the hospital, where young Sara was successfully treated.

"When they cleaned between the skin and the skull they left a few small parts of the bullet behind," Mohammad recalled. "When she woke up, she asked me, 'What would you have done without me? If I'm gone, what would you do without me?' Thank god she didn't die."

Her father said Sara doesn't always "eat well and her head hurts, of course. She's really clever, she's one of the smartest. She got a scholarship for maths. She knows how to calculate really quickly and play with those numbers."

Mohammad then shared his experience with life and death, saying: "We have one life and one death. I've faced death several times. I have seen people killed in front of me. And I myself was nearly shot three times. By now I should be gone, but instead I'm here. That time it wasn't meant to be.

"I was in my neighbourhood in Syria walking by when this building was hit by shells, by bombs. I was injured, my hand was broken, I felt pain in my chest and back as well. Afterwards I saw a friend and I saw in his eyes that other people were injured, or had died in that moment.

"I didn't feel any pain until I got to Jordan and then after a while, when I moved, or tried to pick something up from the floor, I felt the pain in every part of my body that was injured."

The dangers Mohammad and his family experienced have since become bad memories. Sara was shot two years ago, and since her recovery she and her family escaped to Zarka, Jordan.

When they first arrived, they received 168 Jordanian Dinars ($236.94) each month from the World Food Programme. The money was meant to feed the family of seven, purchase clothing, and pay for shelter. Since then, the aid has been reduced to 69.93 Dinars, or $98.62.

A basic Jordan guesthouse is 10.68 Jordinian Dinars ($15.06) per night, while a loaf of bread or some milk costs 1.92 Dinar or $2.71.

In an effort to offset the cost of living, Mohammad attempts to find work every so often, despite rules that refugees are not allowed to do so. If he is caught attempting to work, his family could be relocated to a refugee camp or even back to Syria.

Mohammad worries for his children's futures as their living conditions are extremely basic. "That's why I thought of leaving and escaping all of this to find them a better future," he admitted. "And that's why I'm thinking of travelling somewhere else. I am going to risk the danger of going to Europe for my kids. So they can live better.

"Even if I die, I need them to have a better future. Whatever it takes, I will do it. In my homeland, I didn't feel like a human. I lost myself in that country. I had to find somewhere else, so that I can feel like a human again.

"I know there's no place that you can have 100 per cent human rights but, at the same time, sometimes in Europe it can be better. Of course I would still feel Syrian, Syria is my country and my kids should feel the same. For me, I try to forget about Syria. I left my life there. Even my  kids, they left their childhood there.

"They will feel like Syrians but there's no future for them there now. It's not only the buildings tumbling down, it's everything, even the human beings. I haven't see wars, I haven't seen conflict like my kids have, so you can expect what kind of future they will have.

"What I hope or expect from Europe is that there they will have a better financial situation and the UN agencies would give us more help there, even the governments themselves, they would help us. My kids can learn and work and they can get food, anything that they need.

"My cousin cannot walk, he's in a wheelchair. He was one of those migrants or refugees who crossed the sea to Europe. He used the sea to travel all the way to Europe. When I saw that, I thought, why not? Why not do that for my children? Why not risk it? I would definitely do that so my children can have a better future for their health, education.

"This generation is lost, this generation is ruined...for a long time. And, I think by living in Europe I would have a better life for my kids, I can live wherever, whatever it takes. I don't care about myself, what I care about is my kids. 

"Before, in Syria, I was working in a tourism agency. I spent most of my time at work. When I finished, I would go and work with my father on the farm. It was a flower farm. We had about 15 acres of land and part of that farm had these greenhouses, three of them. Now I have absolutely no idea what's happened with our farm. Maybe it's not there, maybe it's still there, maybe no one conquered that land, who knows?

"Here in Jordan, we are helped by NGOs. I hope that Oxfam continues doing this work, we need help. Everyone needs help. Other refugees need help, from Oxfam and other agencies. I hope they can continue with their work, for the refugees in need."

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