THE GREATEST GIFT

Amid the backdrop of a war zone, Sian Damon's perfect present was adopting her daughter Lejla

- WORDS: LOUISE COURT

The first time I saw my beautiful Lejla’s tiny pink face was in a war-torn hospital in Sarajevo. It was 30 December 1992. The Bosnian war was raging and, despite a Red Cross flag flying over the building, it had been targeted by grenades, sniper fire and mortar shells. Fresh water and electricity were intermittent, and the staff were doing their best, undeterred by repeated attacks.

Lejla had been born on 25 December - she looked like a perfect Christmas baby. But the tragedy was that she was a child conceived as a result of rape. Her mother Mia* had been held in one of the Serbian rape camps, where women were horrifically assaulted by troops until they were pregnant. It was used as a weapon of war to destroy communities and break up families, as the mothers were often ostracised and the children abandoned.

My husband Dan and I were working in Sarajevo as journalists for Sky News.

Mia had consented to tell us her story. She didn't want her face on camera, but spoke to us in a room alone, wrapped in a dark dressing gown.

Her newborn wasn't with her.

She told us she was frightened she would strangle the baby due to everything she reminded her of. We were later led to a basement, where Lejla lay in a worn plastic cot, sleeping peacefully under stark overhead lights.