Ahed Beseso arrived at Denver International Airport with her sister Friday night. This was the easiest part of her journey from Gaza.

That journey began in December after the 18-year-old Palestinian’s leg was mangled by an Israeli bomb and then amputated using dish soap and scissors. But without anesthesia. 

Beseso was at her home getting ready for lunch with her family when an Israeli bomb hit their building. A wall fell on her legs. Her family rushed to dig her out of the rubble.

“As they were moving things and bringing her down, they noticed that her leg was literally in shards. Just pieces of string and stuff,” Beseso said in Arabic through an interpreter.

Her uncle, who’s a surgeon, cleared the table of food, grabbed a pair of scissors, chlorine and dish soap and amputated her leg. The whole procedure was captured on cell phone video.

“With no anesthesia or antiseptics,” Beseso said.

They lived approximately a mile from Al-Shifa Hospital but because of the war raging outside their damaged home, Ahed had to spend days in her home under the care of her uncle, who had no medical supplies.

“She was coming in and out of waking,” Beseso said.

She says every time he had to change her homemade bandages made of clothing it was excruciating pain. Meanwhile, tanks surrounded her home.

“She would plead with her uncle, like, ‘if they were to come in, please leave,’” Beseso’s interpreter said.

Her uncle promised he would stay if the Israeli Defense Forces came in, but they never did. Eventually, she made it to Al-Shifa but conditions there weren’t much better.

“Because there was no food and water, her nutrition and all of that was really weakening,” Beseso’s interpreter said.

She applied for a visa to leave Gaza and says she was denied several times because of South Africa’s International Criminal Court case against Israel.

“Israel thought that if Ahed were to go out and they were to understand her story of what happened to her, that she would be testifying against Israel,” Beseso’s interpreter conveyed.

Eventually, she got a visa, but it took 18 trips to the border and more violence before she got out. She says the IDF fired at her sanctioned Red Cross van and randomly searched it.

“During several trips where she would try to go there, they would go in and as she was in the car with the Red Crescent drivers, they actually killed the driver,” Beseso’s interpreter said.

Once out of Gaza, the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund flew Beseso to the U.S. for medical treatment.

That’s when she got connected with Colorado surgeon Dr. Omar Mubarak. He evaluated her injuries from cell phone photos and hooked her up with a state-of-the-art prosthetic, which she picked up Saturday after a quick breakfast. Mubarak says he had to do something.

“My heart’s broken and I’m so happy we’ve got this limb and I hope this helps to improve her life,” said Mubarak. “I hope that we can help many other children in the future.”

With a new prosthesis, Beseso took her first steps in nearly six months in Colorado; something she never thought she would be able to do when she was suffering in Gaza.

Her journey started in Gaza but brought her here to Colorado, thanks to Mubarak.

Beseso considers herself lucky, despite her loss: “What happened to me is minuscule (compared) to what’s happening to others and all the other Palestinian children and the families that are in Gaza.”

The 32-mile Independence Pass is an essential American experience for its majesty, jaw-dropping scenery and “Let’s pull over and take another 100 selfies.” It’s open now through October, and closed to traffic in winter.

Part of Colorado State Highway 82, Independence Pass is 12,095 feet above sea level and the highest paved pass in North America. Depending on your driving habits, it takes anywhere from 45 to 90 minutes to twist around groves of sublimely beautiful aspen trees and the Roaring Fork River.

It’s narrow, it’s steep enough to make you queasy and it’s twisty as corkscrew pasta, with few guardrails. It’s safe, however, if you take it easy and use common sense. There’s camping for a fee at most places, but it’s offered free along Lincoln Creek Road. Numerous hiking opportunities abound, naturally. But you can also pull off, walk a short distance and picnic near streams, or sit and contemplate and forget the madding crowd. Take your trash, please.

The drive from Denver’s around 142 miles and should take approximately three hours depending on traffic and your driving habits. You can either pop out on the Aspen side and spend the night there, or, if you haven’t had your fill, just turn around and do the pass again.

Helpful things to know

*Oversize and overweight vehicles are prohibited at all times due to the narrowness of the roads in different sections. Don’t try to do it in your RV, in other words.

*Cell phone service is more or less non-existent on Independence Pass, so be sure to download any map you consult so it can be seen off-line. That said, first-timers can just follow the road and you’ll get to the other side from either direction. You just won’t be able to determine “Are we there yet?” until you’re there.

*The best times to drive as far as road conditions and ideal hiking are June, July and August. Because of the mountainous terrain, you’re more than likely to come across snow as late as the latter part of May. Check road conditions beforehand. And drive a snow-worthy vehicle – leave your MX5 or Volkswagen Beetle at home. The pass is full of hairpin turns you’ll want to do when the weather is mild.

*You can visit as late as October but by that time, the fall colors will be finished and it’ll be like watching “The Wizard Of Oz” in black and white. It’s still fun but you won’t get the full, majestic, soul-stirring experience. The last week of September is usually a good bet to experience the explosion of rich color the pass is known for.

*Bring a jacket no matter what time of year you go. Colorado is known for its bipolar weather. It can be 70 degrees and sunny at noon and 40 degrees at 4 PM.

Of course it came down to the puck on Matt Duchene’s stick.

It figures because of his history in this building and this state.

It figures, too, because he had his fingerprints all over Game 6.

Double overtime. Running on fumes. A week that turned the Avalanche’s season upside down.

It’s been a long time since Duchene played for Colorado at this point (although, fans still boo him at Ball Arena). It’ll be a long time before he forgets this one. He just has to remember exactly what happened, first.

“I don’t even know. I think I ended up on my knees,” said Duchene, who did indeed drop to the ice, make a big heart shape with his arms and then punched through it before getting mobbed by his teammates. “I have no idea, to be honest with you. It’s just elation, right? Hard-fought series. They’re a hell of a team, obviously.

“They were really good the last two games and they pushed us.”

The 33-year-old was the No. 3 overall pick by Colorado in the 2009 draft, then played the first nine years of his career for the Avalanche before he asked to be traded and was eventually dealt for four players and three draft picks in November 2017.

Two times before he slammed home the game-winner from point blank range 91-plus minutes into the night, Duchene nearly helped the Stars to victory.

In the first overtime, he won a faceoff and posted up in front of the net, tussling with Cale Makar. Mason Marchment ripped a shot cleanly past Alexander Georgiev, but Duchene was called for interfering with Georgiev and the call withstood a long review.

“I haven’t seen the replay, really, of the no goal,” Duchene said. “I’ll leave it at that. I think you just stay with it. It can be a little tough to reset after you think it’s over and you hope it’s over. It’s a gut punch a little bit, but that’s what we do.”

Early in the second overtime, Duchene got a walk-in chance on Georgiev but couldn’t find the back of the net as the goaltender splayed out to make a stop.

Then, finally, he put Dallas into the Western Conference Final. He’s rarely been part of a run like this during his 15 seasons.

That’s nine years in Colorado, one-plus in Ottawa, a stretch run in Columbus and four in Nashville before signing with the Stars in the offseason.

“At 33, I think there’s a certain level of appreciation that you have that you wouldn’t have had as a young player,” Duchene said. “… I probably let it stress me out more than it’s been fun at times just because you want it so bad, but I’m starting to relax a little bit more and it’s getting to be a lot of fun as we go on here.”

Now the Stars are into the final four and the veteran center will be a key part of the puzzle as they try to find eight more wins.

“Really happy for ‘Dutchy’. He’s ridden the confidence roller coaster here in the second half (of the season),” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Some high highs and some low lows. It was probably about as low as he could be after Game 5. That’s why our group is special. I thought they rallied around him and he was maybe our best player tonight.”

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