"I want to be strong like Spider-Man and fly around the whole room!"
That’s how Ibrahim kicks off his physical therapy session—with excitement in
his eyes and a grin on his face. As he flexes his tiny muscles, he promises his
therapist, Lina Shayeb, that he'll finish all his food to grow stronger.
But this strength wasn’t always there.
When Ibrahim
first arrived at the physical rehabilitation center in Saida, he was nothing
like the confident little hero we see today. Born with cerebral palsy, he
struggled with movement—even sitting up was a challenge. He clung to his
father's phone like a lifeline, shy and sensitive, with tears never too far
away.
“He wouldn’t interact with us at all,” Lina recalls. “He cried a lot and was fully focused on the phone.”
Then something began to shift.
Week by
week, a real superhero started to emerge.
Thanks to an
intensive therapy program—regular sessions at the center, combined with daily
exercises at home, Ibrahim’s tears slowly turned into laughter. He began
listening carefully, learning that doing his exercises properly would help him
get better, faster.
A few months in, Ibrahim reached his first big milestone: he was able to sit up on his own. Then came standing. And now… here he is, standing firmly on his own two feet!
“The next
step is for him to take a few steps by himself. And I truly believe he can do
it,” Lina says, her smile beaming with pride.
Today, at
five years old, Ibrahim continues his weekly sessions with the support of
DM-Aid. Every time we visit the center to check on his progress, he greets us
with a new story—and always makes sure we take another photo of him in his
favorite Spider-Man pose, ready for takeoff.
Every
stretch, every effort brings him closer to his dream: to run like the hero he
admires and save the world from the bad guys.
But the truth is, Ibrahim doesn’t need to run to be a hero.
He saves our
hearts every time he smiles.
He is the hero who reminds us that courage starts with a single step—even if that step is taken on tiny toes, in a physical therapy room in Saida, Lebanon.
