Syria: The Photo That Will Break Your Heart

Last week it was this viral video of an Irish guy phoning his nana that had us all emotional, this week it’s a photo of a four-year-old Syrian boy who had his photo taken but not before surrendering, his hands in the air, as he mistook the camera for a gun.

Not sure we can quite put into words the poignancy of this image that has now gone viral. From the sad, resigned look on the little boy’s face to the realisation that someone so young would come to expect that they would be met with a gun and automatically surrender themselves in fear, it just gives you a WHOLE lot of perspective.

Kids are supposed to be smiling for photos, preoccupied with the things that toddlers should be doing – playing, learning and discovering life’s pleasures as opposed to finding themselves in the midst of war. War has no place in the life of a child, let alone anybody else. It’s so easy to look upon this as fiction, his reaction is that hard to stomach, but sadly, it’s very very real.

The photo first appeared on Instagram, shared by photojournalist Nadia Abu Shaban. The photo is said to have been taken by Osman Sa??rl?.

As to what exactly happened as this photo was taken, or the story behind the photo, nothing’s been verified for sure. However, a Turkish report identifies the child as Adi Hudea, and claims the little boy fled from the Syrian war, along with his family, finding refuge in a Turkish camp where this photo was taken back in 2012.

photojournalist took this photo 4 Syrian child, thought he has a weapon not a camera so she Gave up ! #Surrended pic.twitter.com/bm1hOWQWJY

? Nadia AbuShaban (@NadiaAbuShaban) March 24, 2015

@CarolineForan