A Heart-Wrenching Choice: Sudanese Mother Struggles Amid War's Desperation

Sun Oct 19 2025 17:42:41 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

In the midst of Sudan's ongoing civil war, a mother's choice between her malnourished twin daughters exemplifies the dire humanitarian crisis escalating in the country.

Touma, a mother from Sudan, faces the unbearable decision of choosing to save one of her twin daughters amid escalating malnutrition and lack of resources due to ongoing conflict. As hospitals overflow with suffering children, Touma's heartbreaking choice underscores the profound impact of war on families and the critical humanitarian situation unfolding in the region.

Warning: This piece contains details that some readers may find distressing.

Touma hasn't eaten in days. She sits silently, her eyes glassy as she stares aimlessly across the hospital ward. In her arms, motionless and severely malnourished, lies her three-year-old daughter, Masajed.

Touma seems numb to the cries of the other young children around her. I wish she would cry, the 25-year-old mother tells us, looking at her daughter. She hasn't cried in days.

Bashaer Hospital is one of the last functioning facilities in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, devastated by the civil war which has been raging since April 2023. Mothers travel hours seeking care for their suffering children, only to find themselves in a grim reality.

Sudan faces one of the world's worst humanitarian emergencies, with three million children under five acutely malnourished, overwhelming the few existing hospitals. Medications needed to save their lives come at a cost that families often cannot cover.

Touma's twin daughters, Masajed and Manahil, were brought to the hospital together, but with only enough funds to buy antibiotics for one, Touma was forced to make an impossible choice—she chose to save Manahil.

Amid her grief, Touma reflects, I wish they could both recover and grow. I am alone. I have nothing. I have only God. As the doctor informs that none of the children in the ward will survive, the weight of war's impact on Sudanese families and children is heartbreakingly palpable.

Further illustrating the devastation, stories from other families in Khartoum reveal similar tragedies. Children like Zaher, who has suffered an amputation due to a drone strike, yearn for a semblance of normalcy while grappling with the stark changes imposed by conflict. For these children, the war has stolen not just their childhood, but their future.

With a lingering hope and the determination to play, Zaher continues to aspire to join his friends in football despite the challenges he faces. The stories of grief and resilience capture the multifaceted impact of a humanitarian crisis that demands global attention.