Hisham Awartani, a 20-year-old Palestinian-Irish-American college student, has been left paralyzed from the chest down after being shot in an unprovoked attack last month in Burlington, Vermont.
The incident occurred while Awartani was taking a walk on November 25 with two childhood friends of Palestinian descent, Kinnan Abdalhamid and Tahseen Ali Ahmad.
A man approached them with a gun and shot all three. While Awartani and his friends survived, Awartani now faces the possibility of permanent paralysis in his legs due to a bullet lodged in his spine.
His family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover his medical costs, stating that he has shown remarkable courage and resilience despite the challenging situation.
As of midday Sunday, the fundraising effort had exceeded $400,000 toward its $800,000 goal. Awartani is expected to be released from the hospital next week to begin rehabilitation.
The alleged shooter, Jason J. Eaton, 48, has pleaded not guilty to three counts of attempted murder and is scheduled to appear in court on December 18.
The FBI and Vermont authorities are investigating whether the shooting qualifies as a hate crime.
The attack underscores the rising violence against Jewish, Muslim, and Arab communities in the U.S. since the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Awartani, a Brown University student studying mathematics and archaeology, was visiting his grandmother in Vermont for Thanksgiving break when the shooting occurred.
His parents had believed it would be safer for Awartani to stay in the U.S. with his grandmother than to return home to Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The Burlington Police Department reported that Awartani and his friends were walking down a residential street, speaking a mix of Arabic and English, when the gunman appeared.
The shooter did not speak before opening fire, injuring Awartani, Abdalhamid, and Ali Ahmad, who have been friends since elementary school.
Abdalhamid attends Haverford College in Pennsylvania, and Ali Ahmad attends Trinity College in Connecticut.
