“I felt a deep concern for kids who had battled illness throughout their entire lives. At 62 years old, as an adult, I experienced a profound sense of loneliness and fear. No one reassured me that everything would be okay. This humbling experience made me reflect,” he shared with PBS News.
In 2017, Bzeek was the caregiver for Samantha, who grappled with microcephaly, deafness, blindness, and frequent seizures. To stay close to her, Bzeek slept on the couch, highlighting their bond in the 2018 documentary “Guardian of Angels.”
He explained, “The only way to communicate with her is by touch, so I hold her. I want her to know that somebody is here for her, somebody loves her. She is not alone.”
Samantha’s pediatrician, Dr. Suzanne Roberts, acknowledged, “Her life is not complete suffering. She has moments where she’s enjoying herself and she’s pretty content, and it’s all because of Mohamed.”
Tragically, after nearly nine years of care, Samantha passed away in 2019.
A GoFundMe page, initially set up to support Bzeek, surpassed its $100,000 goal, raising over $840,000 by August 2022. With these funds, Bzeek improved his living conditions, adding air-conditioning and a water heater, repairing his van and son’s wheelchair, and planning home renovations for better wheelchair accessibility.
Bzeek, driven by a deep motivation, renewed his fostering license, enabling him to care for more than one child simultaneously. When asked about his ongoing commitment to such children, he expressed, “I give these kids the best I have to offer in the short time they’re here. They leave here knowing that they were loved.”
