Syria: Images of Omran and Alan reveal so much horror | CNN

01:25 - Source: CNN

This is what it looks like to be lucky in Syria

Story highlights

A wounded boy becomes a symbol of life today in Syria

Last year, another image of a Syrian boy lying dead on a beach highlighted refugees' plight

Today, parents say they have no option to leave and everyone is lucky just to be alive

Go to CNN’s Impact Your World page to see how to help victims of the Syrian war.

CNN —

Omran Daqneesh is among the lucky ones – rescued alive after his home was turned to rubble in a bombing.

But the photos and video of him, wounded and covered in dust yet sitting so silently, reveal a deeper truth.

When you look at Omran’s face, this bloodied, impassive face, it hits you that the boy is so traumatized that even as he pulled his hand away with his own blood, he doesn’t react, he just doesn’t respond. This is now what it looks like to be lucky, as a child, in Syria.

How children change how we think about war

To be lucky means that you are pulled out of the rubble after a 45-minute search. You’ve been alone, in the dark, but you’re pulled out alive.

<strong>2016: Aleppo, Syria</strong> -- Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh waits shell-shocked in the back of an ambulance. He and other members of his family were injured when airstrikes ripped through his neighborhood in August. The photo <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2016/08/17/world/syria-little-boy-airstrike-victim/" target="_blank">inspired international grief</a> and put a face on Syria's ongoing civil war.

Photos: Children of conflct

Mahmud Rslan/Anadolu/Getty Images

2016: Aleppo, Syria -- Five-year-old Omran Daqneesh waits shell-shocked in the back of an ambulance. He and other members of his family were injured when airstrikes ripped through his neighborhood in August. The photo inspired international grief and put a face on Syria's ongoing civil war.

Photos: Heartbreaking images following Aleppo airstrike

<strong>2015: Bodrum, Turkey</strong> -- An arresting image of a migrant child's dead body washed up on a Turkish beach <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/02/europe/migration-crisis-boy-washed-ashore-in-turkey/" target="_blank">served as a tragic reminder</a> of the risks faced by Syrian refugees. The photo also became a touchstone for discussions about how Europe and other countries should approach the refugee crisis.

Photos: Children of conflct

Nilufer Demir/AFP/Getty Images

2015: Bodrum, Turkey -- An arresting image of a migrant child's dead body washed up on a Turkish beach served as a tragic reminder of the risks faced by Syrian refugees. The photo also became a touchstone for discussions about how Europe and other countries should approach the refugee crisis.

<strong>2014: Gaza City </strong>-- A man carries a child as another lies dead after an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City beach in July 2014. At least four boys, ages 9 to 11, were killed. The Israeli military investigated the tragedy and reported that the location of the attack was known to be a compound of Hamas police and naval forces. "Tragically, in the wake of the incident it became clear that the outcome of the attack was the death of four children who had entered the military compound for reasons that remain unclear," <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/11/middleeast/israel-gaza-beach-bombing/" target="_blank">the report stated.</a>

Photos: Children of conflct

TYLER HICKS/The New York Times

2014: Gaza City -- A man carries a child as another lies dead after an Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City beach in July 2014. At least four boys, ages 9 to 11, were killed. The Israeli military investigated the tragedy and reported that the location of the attack was known to be a compound of Hamas police and naval forces. "Tragically, in the wake of the incident it became clear that the outcome of the attack was the death of four children who had entered the military compound for reasons that remain unclear," the report stated.

<strong>2005: Tal Afar, Iraq</strong> -- In a time when truly resonant war photos were hard to come by due to the dangerous climate in Iraq, a photographer <a href="http://time.com/3808940/remembering-chris-hondros/" target="_blank" target="_blank">captured a truly wrenching moment.</a> The girl is Samar Hassan, screaming and spattered with blood after her parents were mistakenly killed and her brother was wounded by U.S. troops. The image was widely used to represent the true civilian cost of international conflict.

Photos: Children of conflct

Chris Hondros/Getty Images

2005: Tal Afar, Iraq -- In a time when truly resonant war photos were hard to come by due to the dangerous climate in Iraq, a photographer captured a truly wrenching moment. The girl is Samar Hassan, screaming and spattered with blood after her parents were mistakenly killed and her brother was wounded by U.S. troops. The image was widely used to represent the true civilian cost of international conflict.

<strong>2003: Najaf, Iraq </strong>-- An Iraqi prisoner of war comforts his son in a POW holding zone. The emotional image won the 2003 World Press Photo award.

Photos: Children of conflct

JEAN-MARC BOUJU/AP

2003: Najaf, Iraq -- An Iraqi prisoner of war comforts his son in a POW holding zone. The emotional image won the 2003 World Press Photo award.

<strong>2003: Central Iraq</strong> -- A U.S. Navy hospital corpsman holds an Iraqi boy. Confused front-line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family. This moment of compassion was captured barely a year after the official start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Photos: Children of conflct

Damir Sagolj/Reuters

2003: Central Iraq -- A U.S. Navy hospital corpsman holds an Iraqi boy. Confused front-line crossfire ripped apart an Iraqi family. This moment of compassion was captured barely a year after the official start of the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

<strong>2001: Quetta, Pakistan </strong>-- Seven-year-old Fermina Bibi, from Kandahar, Afghanistan, lies wounded in a hospital bed. She and her brother were injured when their home in Kandahar was bombed. They were transported to Pakistan for treatment.

Photos: Children of conflct

Paula Bronstein/Getty Images

2001: Quetta, Pakistan -- Seven-year-old Fermina Bibi, from Kandahar, Afghanistan, lies wounded in a hospital bed. She and her brother were injured when their home in Kandahar was bombed. They were transported to Pakistan for treatment.

<strong>1972: Trang Bang, South Vietnam </strong>-- Nine-year-old Kim Phuc wails in agony as she and her fellow villagers flee a napalm attack. This unflinching look into the horrors of the Vietnam War earned a Pulitzer Prize. Phuc survived, and <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/06/22/world/kim-phuc-where-is-she-now/" target="_blank">eventually started her own foundation</a> to aid child victims of war.

Photos: Children of conflct

Nick Ut/AP

1972: Trang Bang, South Vietnam -- Nine-year-old Kim Phuc wails in agony as she and her fellow villagers flee a napalm attack. This unflinching look into the horrors of the Vietnam War earned a Pulitzer Prize. Phuc survived, and eventually started her own foundation to aid child victims of war.

In that moment of seeing Omran, so many of us were reminded of the image of another Syrian little boy, Alan Kurdi, who wasn’t lucky. The image of Alan Kurdi’s lifeless three-year-old body being brought out of the Mediterranean sea last year. He drowned with his mother and brother as the family tried to reach Europe.

At the time, I think we all thought that that has to be the most difficult of choices: either stay in Syria, stay under the bombardment and the barrel bombs, stay inside the besieged zones or leave and risk the sea, risk the crossing, risk that your child is not going to make it to the other side alive.