A Palestinian refugee family from London lost three members in a tragic drowning incident at Shoreham-by-Sea on August 18. The youngest daughter, six-year-old Saja El-Khawas, survived the initial rescue but passed away three days later due to a brain injury.
Saja El-Khawas and the three-day struggle at Evelina Children's Hospital
Saja El-Khawas was recovered from the water by a lifeboat crew at Kingston Beach near Shoreham Fort, where she was resuscitated on the sand. According to the report, Saja was initially treated at the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton before being transferred to the Evelina Children's Hospital in London. Despite medical intervention,she died three days after the incident .
The formal cause of death for Saja El-Khawas was listed by Dr. Hawa Sesay as a brain injury caused by drowniing. Clinical signs during her admission to the Evelina Children's Hospital indicated a hypoxic brain injury, a condition resulting from the brain being deprived of adequate oxygen supply.
From Rashidieh Camp to North-West London
The El-Khawas family's journey to the United Kingdom began in the Rashidieh refugee camp, a large settlement on the Mediterranean coast of southern Lebanon where both parents, Hussam El-Khawas and Zeina Alayan, were born. While the couple held British passports, they maintained their Lebanese nationality, reflecting a common trajectory for displaced Palestinian families seeking stability in Europe.
The family had established deep roots in north-west London, where their children were born at the Kensington and Chelsea hospital. Hussam El-Khawas worked in construction, and Zeina Alayan managed the home, embodying the successful integration of refugee families into the British workforce and community before this sudden tragedy.
The unascertained causes of death for Hussam, Zeina, and Sara
While Saja's cause of death was clear, the post-mortem examinations for Hussam El-Khawas, Zeina Alayan, and 14-year-old Sara El-Khawas yielded different results. As the report says, Dr. mark Taylor left the cause of death for these three family members as "unascertained," leaving a gap in the medical record of the event.
Sussex Police have reviewed CCTV footage and witness accounts, leading to a current hypothesis that the deaths were a tragic accident with no third-party involvement. however, the lack of a definitive medical cause of death for the three eldest family members remains a point of focus as the senior coroner for Brighton and West Sussex, Penelope Schofield, prepares for a full inquest in March.
The £23,000 community effort to return the family to Lebanon
The financial and emotional burden of the tragedy fell upon a wide network of supporters, as relatives were unable to travel to the UK for the funerals. Community groups raised more than £23,000 to cover the costs of transferring the bodies of the four family members back to Lebanon, where they were laid to rest in the Rashidieh refugee camp.
The town of Shoreham-by-Sea expressed its grief through a series of memorials, including a minute's silence in the town centre and a paddleboard and kayak tribute on the water. Local MP Tom Rutland noted that the entire commuity was heartbroken by the loss of Saja El-Khawas and her family, highlighting the profound impact of the event on the local Sussex population.
Comments 0