Palestinian-American student shot in Vermont is paralyzed

Reuters

Published Dec 03, 2023 10:20AM ET

(Reuters) - One of the three college students of Palestinian descent who were shot in Vermont last month is paralyzed from the chest down after a bullet lodged in his spine, the student's family said.

Hisham Awartani, a 20-year-old student at Brown University who grew up in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, was walking with two friends near the University of Vermont campus in Burlington (NYSE:BURL) on Nov. 25 when police say 48-year-old Jason Eaton (NYSE:ETN) shot them with a handgun in a suspected hate crime. Eaton has pleaded not guilty.

Tahseen Aliahmad, who attends Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Kinnan Abdalhamid, who attends Trinity College in Connecticut, were expected to make a full recovery. But Awartani - whose grandmother the three 20-year-olds had been visiting over Thanksgiving break from school - received a much graver prognosis, according to a statement his family wrote for a fundraiser to offset his medical expenses.

"He has demonstrated remarkable courage, resilience and fortitude - even a sense of humor - even as the reality of his paralysis sets in," Awartani's family wrote on their GoFundMe page, which had raised over $200,000 as of Sunday morning.

Awartani, who is Palestinian-Irish-American, according to the fundraiser, hopes to start his next semester of college on time despite his paralysis, the family's note said.

The shooting came amid a surge in anti-Islamic, anti-Arab and antisemitic incidents and threats reported around the United States since a conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas erupted on Oct. 7.