THE ODYSSEY OF GILZAN: THE LEGLESS MOROCCAN MIGRANT WHO CONQUERED HOPE

An image of extraordinary resilience: Gilzan, a 39-year-old Moroccan woman who, despite losing her legs as a child, faced a dangerous sea journey to reach Lanzarote, driven by the dream of a better life for herself and her mother.

It is the radiant smile of Gilzan, a 39-year-old Moroccan woman, that illuminates a story of hope defying adversity. Despite losing both her legs in a road accident at the age of 4, Gilzan never stopped dreaming of a better future for herself and her mother, who remained in Morocco.

On July 27, aboard a rubber dinghy that departed from Agadir, Morocco, Gilzan, along with 39 other individuals of Maghrebi and sub-Saharan origin, faced a three-day crossing, leaving behind even her wheelchair.

The dinghy was rescued off the coast of Lanzarote island in the Canary Islands by a Spanish maritime rescue patrol boat, which brought her and the other migrants safely to port. Once disembarked in Arrecife, Gilzan's emotion was overwhelming. She was assisted by Red Cross volunteers who provided her with a new wheelchair. Her presence did not go unnoticed, due to the irrepressible joy that Gilzan, covered by her windbreaker hood, could not contain.

"She was crazy with joy, she had made it," some of the volunteers who rescued her told local media, having heard her tale of courage and hope that pushed her to undertake the long and dangerous sea voyage to reach the Canary Islands. Gilzan did not explain how she covered the 460-kilometer journey from Casablanca, where her mother remains, to Agadir, nor where she abandoned her wheelchair. However, she recounted that during the three days of the arduous crossing, she survived thanks to the help and solidarity of her fellow travelers, among whom were nine Maghrebi women. The sole thought that gave her strength at every moment was the desire to help her mother once she arrived on Spanish soil.

Gilzan has been welcomed into a center in Lanzarote managed by the NGO Accem, which plans to transfer her soon to the Iberian Peninsula, where she looks forward to starting a new life.