He took one of the deadliest migrant routes, hoping to save his cancer-stricken son

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/30/ [login to see] /migrant-shipwreck-mediterranean-greece-syrian-refugee
Thaer al-Rahal knew if he didn't do something drastic, his 3-year-old son could soon die of leukemia. He was a Syrian refugee in Jordan, but the United Nations refugee agency couldn't pay for his son's treatment. Another donor funded some chemotherapy sessions, but only intermittently. He saw no other option but to board a smuggler's boat to cross the Mediterranean Sea to Europe.

"We don't want money, and we're not just trying to live comfortably. The most important thing in the world is for my son to get cured," he told a friend in one of his last voice notes, shared with NPR.

He planned to go to Germany and in other voice notes asked Syrians residing there for advice on which city to go to for the quickest family reunification process. "So I know where to head to — if I make it," he said.