A girl asks a passerby for help to pay a medical bill as her father sits in his wheelchair in the Douma neighbourhood of Damascus Syria February 3, 2016. Reuters Photographer Bassam Khabieh: “Shahrour, 54, developed diabetes at the beginning of the war in Syria. When the siege of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, began, his medical condition worsened and his right foot was amputated. He can no longer work. He and some of his extended family, a total of 18 people, live in the same house. One son, 24, has chronic asthma and also cannot work. His children include two daughters. “When my pregnant daughter went to hospital in the city of Douma, she needed a drug which was not available in the hospital. (...) I did not have the money to buy the prescription...” He broke down in tears. Medication for father and son costs about $15 a month. The family cannot always raise that as the income of those in work varies each day. “We couldn't buy firewood” in winter, he said. “My children would collect some during the day which would burn in one hour on a long cold winter's night. When the weather got too cold, we burnt the old cotton pillows”. Shahrour thinks he and his family should flee their town, and also leave Syria. He knows the situation is no better outside, he said. Nor can he afford to shoulder the financial burdens he may face outside Syria. He and his family have no option but to stay, hoping for a breakthrough”. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, washes his hands at his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. Shahrour said he developed diabetes at the beginning of the war in Syria. A lack of insulin led to his medical condition worsening and his right foot had to be amputated. Recently he also suffered a stroke that paralysed half his face. He and part of his extended family, a total of 18 people, live together and struggle to get by. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Hadeel, 10, daughter of Shahrour, walks with a coffee tray at her home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Atef, 2, Shahrour's grandchild, stands in the courtyard of his grandfather's home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Hadeel, 10, pushes her father Shahrour in his wheelchair through the Douma neighbourhood of Damascus Syria in this February 3, 2016 file photo. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





A bronchodilator is placed atop of a prescription treatment paper that belongs to Shahrour's son who is suffering from asthma, inside their home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, whose leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes, sits in his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, whose leg was amputated due to complications from diabetes, attempts to sit on his wheelchair at his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour's wheelchair is seen inside his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. Shahrour said he developed diabetes at the beginning of the war in Syria. A lack of insulin led to his medical condition worsening and his right foot had to be amputated. Recently he also suffered a stroke that paralysed half his face. He and part of his extended family, a total of 18 people, live together and struggle to get by. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, prepares firewood for heating inside his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Cotton, used for heating, is pictured inside Shahrour's home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, looks at his daughter Hadeel's notebook inside their home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, looks at his daughter Hadeel, 10, inside their home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Hadeel, 10, the daughter of Shahrour, does her homework at her home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Shahrour, 54, poses for a photograph at his home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Cups of coffee stand inside Shahrour's home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Khouloud, Shahrour's 6-month-old granddaughter, is seen crying in the courtyard of her grandfather's home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in the Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)





Hadeel, 10, the daughter of Shahrour, looks out of a window at home in the besieged town of Arbeen, in Damascus suburbs, Syria February 6, 2016. (Photo by Bassam Khabieh/Reuters)