Seattle medical volunteer on humanitarian aid mission trapped in Gaza

SEATTLE — A Seattle woman on a humanitarian aid mission to help children is trapped in Gaza and is trying to get back home.

Those trying to get back to the Seattle area from the region will have to take a flight to a city where there is a direct flight to the U.S., and then take a connecting flight to Sea-Tac Airport.

But the journey is now complex amid the war between Israel and Hamas.

The U.S., Israel, and Egypt are in talks to create safe passage out of Gaza for Americans.

As Gaza is pounded by Israeli airstrikes, we’re starting to hear from volunteers who are stuck there.

Seattle woman Ramona Okumura is one of those volunteers. Her relatives alerted us to her situation.

She’s a former University of Washington lecturer who’s also an expert in making prosthetic limbs.

Okumura travels to Gaza periodically to help children with missing limbs.

Since resources are scarce in Gaza, she often uses what’s there to try to help the children by applying her skills.

We talked to one of her relatives about the situation she’s facing.

“It really hits that the way that people are suffering there, and the chance that she could be hurt when really, her only purpose for being there is to help innocent children,” Okumura’s niece, Erika Okumura said. “It’s terrifying, it’s scary, it’s overwhelming, but it’s inspiring first and foremost.”

Okumura is retired and we’re hearing from others with similar backgrounds to hers that will go to Gaza to provide humanitarian relief.

Many of them are Americans, and for days there have been reports that they may be able to get out of the area into Rafah, Egypt in the Sinai Peninsula, which shares a border with Gaza.

Meanwhile, Okumura’s family is hoping that she can evacuate and get on a flight that would lead her back to Sea-Tac Airport before a full-scale ground invasion, which could happen soon.

A church group from Bellingham has also been trying to get back home after they became trapped during a trip to Israel. They plan on taking flights back to Seattle starting Friday night.

©2023 Cox Media Group