The miracle worker
Published: January 10, 2007
A guy in a black Saturn pulls up to a gas station on Bank St. at Riverside Dr.
After gassing up, he goes inside and asks attendant Gamal Jebahi if he’s got a loonie for change.
Jebahi slowly pulls himself up from his seat and fishes for a loonie in the small pile of cash by the register.
“I’ll give you $1 and a penny,” Jebahi says. “It’s not much, but save it, it’s a blessing. God be with you.”
Welcome to Riverside Gas, where one gets more than just a full tank.
Jebahi, 48, is known as the “miracle man” after surviving a horrific gas explosion that set him on fire at his station on Dec. 31, 2004.
After two years of being closed, he reopened on Christmas Day.
“I feel joy of being active, of seeing life in front of me,” he says, looking out. “The little light of hope I had one time is now getting bigger and bigger.”
A navy toque covers his scarred head. Black sunglasses protect his damaged eyes. When he walks, he hobbles, struggling to keep his balance.
He was working on a vehicle at the time of the explosion and remembers little from that day.
“All I remember is a bright light,” he says. “I didn’t hear anything. No explosion, no sound.”
It was said he’d never survive, that he’d live out his life in a vegetative state.
There is no burn centre in Ottawa and Jebahi was rushed to a Toronto hospital, where he remained for nine months.
For the first four months, he was in a coma. When he came out of it, he had traumatic hallucinations for two months.
“I would be screaming,” he recalls. “I would see myself on the side of a building and someone would be pushing me off. In my mind it was real.”
He couldn’t walk, he couldn’t eat and would vomit after taking a few bites of food.
“The worst thing in life is having no control over the things you do,” he says. “So anything you can do by yourself is a gift, it’s a big reward.”
So far he’s had 144 surgeries with more on the way. He can barely hear out of his left ear and his eyes are severely damaged.
Inside his mouth is darkness, he’s lost so many teeth.
Plans to get married and bring his bride over from his native Lebanon were crushed. The wedding was called off.
Instead, his mother and brother travelled to Canada to care for him.
“I would be the biggest fool on earth if I think I could do this without the help of God, the one who is stronger than all,” Jebahi says.
Jebahi says he’s always been spiritual but now feels more strongly that he’s found his purpose.
On a day of freezing rain, when all the shops were closed, a distraught woman searching for salt entered the gas bar and asked for help. He gave her his last bag for free.
If a customer is short some change for gas, he’ll trust the person to come back another time to pay.
‘HIGH SPIRITS’
His kindness hasn’t gone unnoticed and he was flooded by letters from customers during his recovery.
There’s a clipboard by the cash, his “Goodwill Wish List” for customers to sign.
“Glad to see you back in high spirits as always!” reads one.
So far, he’s got about 30 signatures. When he hits 100, he’s going to take it to the city and lobby for Ottawa’s own burn centre.
Until then, he’s playing the “survival game.”
“The boat could sink, or I can try to salvage what I can,” he says.
It’s going to be a tough journey, but he knows he’ll be okay.
People pray in whatever way, he says and God shows His miracles every day.
“I’m here,” Jebahi says. “My mind is here, and that’s what’s important. One word is ‘hope,’ and there’s always hope.”
If you enjoyed this good news Subscribe to Good News Blog
Share this
To share this simply copy and paste one of the below URL's: