'If I'm gone, what would you do without me?' What 11-year-old Sara asked her father after being shot in the head fleeing ISIS in Syria 

As UK fighter jets continue air strikes on Syria, a father has told of the moment his 11-year-old daughter was shot in the head as his family fled ISIS.

Ahmad Mohammad packed up the lives of his five children and wife Thakaa and drove them from their home in the embattled city of Homs.

But as they fled he discovered blood on his shoulder and turned to his left to see daughter Sara slumped forward, her hair covered with blood.

Survivor: Sara, now 11, looks out over her new neighbourhood in the Jordanian town of Zarka, after her family was forced to flee their home in Homs, Syria

Home: Sara's father Ahmad holds two of his five children, Sara (left) and seven-year-old Rasha (right). The family fled Syria in January 2013

‘Immediately I knew Sara had been shot,’ said Ahmad. ‘I was awake, but I couldn’t understand the situation. I was present, but I wasn’t there. It was as if I was in a different world.

‘I turned to Sara. Her left hand and her left leg stopped moving, she couldn’t feel them.’

Ahmed drove the girl straight to hospital – adding: ‘When they cleaned between the skin and the skull they left a few small parts of the bullet behind.

‘When she woke up, she asked me, “What would you have done without me? If I’m gone, what would you do without me?”

‘Thank god she didn’t die.’

Now, two years on from the attack, Ahmed and his family joined the 10 million others in leaving Syria, to live in Jordan.

They stayed briefly at the Za’atari camp with 80,000 Syrian refugees – before moving to a small apartment in the town of Zarka.

‘We have one life and one death. I’ve faced death several times. I have seen people killed in front of me. And I myself was nearly shot three times. By now I should be gone, but instead I’m here. That time it wasn’t meant to be,’ Ahmad went on.

Together: The whole family in their tiny apartment in Zarka. From left, 15-year-old Amira, Rasha, Ahmad, his wife Thakaa holding a sleeping six-month-old Reem, 14-year-old Zeinah and Sara

Sisters: Rasha and Sara read a magazine together in the family's sparse living room, after they left behind everything they owned in Homs

Loving: Father Ahmad, holding six-month-old Reem, is desperate to reach Europe in the hope of providing a future for his children

Wasteland: Even in their new home in Jordan, and away from the constant conflict in Syria, the family are dependent on charity to survive

‘I was in my neighbourhood in Syria walking by when this building was hit by shells, by bombs. I was injured, my hand was broken, I felt pain in my chest and back as well.

‘Afterwards I saw a friend and I saw in his eyes that other people were injured, or had died in that moment.

‘I didn’t feel any pain until I got to Jordan and then after a while, when I moved, or tried to pick something up from the floor, I felt the pain in every part of my body that was injured.’

Of his precious daughter’s recovery, he added: ‘Sometimes she doesn’t eat well and her head hurts, of course.

‘She’s really clever, she’s one of the smartest. She got a scholarship for maths. She knows how to calculate really quickly and play with those numbers.

Moving on, Ahmad works from time to time, but as a refugee is not supposed to and the family risk being moved back to a refugee camp, or even back to Syria, if he is caught.

When they first arrived the family of seven received 168 Jordanian Dinars (£157) per month from the World Food Programme to feed, clothe and shelter themselves, which has been cut to £65.50.

A night at a basic guesthouse in Jordan costs around £10 a night, a loaf of bread or some milk is £1.80.

Childhood: Sisters Sara (right) and Rasha pose together in the broken Jordanian neighbourhood of Zarka where they now live 

Family: Ahmad and Thakaa depend on vouchers from the World Food Programme to help them feed their five children in Jordan

Young: The World Food Programme underwent dramatic cuts in recent months, and they family now get just £9.35 per person, per month

The living conditions are basic and Ahmad is concerned for his children’s future.

‘That’s why I thought of leaving and escaping all of this to find them a better future. And that’s why I’m thinking of travelling somewhere else,’ he said.

‘I am going to risk the danger of going to Europe for my kids. So they can live better. Even if I die, I need them to have a better future. Whatever it takes, I will do it.

‘In my homeland, I didn’t feel like a human. I lost myself in that country. I had to find somewhere else, so that I can feel like a human again.

‘I know there’s no place that you can have 100 per cent human rights but, at the same time, sometimes in Europe it can be better.

‘Of course I would still feel Syrian, Syria is my country and my kids should feel the same.

‘For me, I try to forget about Syria. I left my life there. Even my kids, they left their childhood there.

‘They will feel like Syrians but there’s no future for them there now. It’s not only the buildings tumbling down, it’s everything, even the human beings.

‘I haven’t seen wars, I haven’t seen conflict like my kids have, so you can expect what kind of future they will have.

‘What I hope or expect from Europe is that there they will have a better financial situation and the UN agencies would give us more help there, even the governments themselves, they would help us.

Terror: Syrian men carry a victim following reported airstrikes by government forces in the town of Jisreen in the rebel-held region of Eastern Ghouta, on the outskirts of the capital Damascus

Victims: At least 35 civilians were killed and dozens wounded in a series of Syrian regime raids on the rebel stronghold east of Damascus

Shelter: Sara and her family fled the horror of their lives in Syria, where families are faced with almost daily attacks from government forces

Loss: A Syrian man stands amid debris following airstrikes on December 4. Families have no idea where or when the next bombs will fall

‘My kids can learn and work and they can get food, anything that they need.

‘My cousin cannot walk, he’s in a wheelchair. He was one of those migrants or refugees who crossed the sea to Europe. He used the sea to travel all the way to Europe.

‘When I saw that, I thought, why not? Why not do that for my children? Why not risk it? I would definitely do that so my children can have a better future for their health, education.’

RAF fighter jets continue to drop bombs in raids over ISIS-controlled areas.

Michael Fallon, the defence secretary, admitted this weekend that there was a risk of civilian casualties from the UK’s campaign to destroy ISIS.

As he announced an increase in missions with the RAF moving to round-the-clock bombing, Fallon, also warned that the bombing campaign could take years.

Forgotten: Ahmad has tried to forget his former life in Syria, where he used to work at a tourism agency and help on the family farm

Better: The view from the roof of the family's new apartment, after they had to leave almost everything they owned behind in Homs, Syria

Protective: Ahmad hopes that in Europe his family will be able to start life afresh, with better health, education and financial opportunities

Future: Ahmad doesn't want to think about his country in the coming years, or whether their family home and farm is still standing

Concern: Britain launched its first raids on ISIS-controlled Syria today, dropping seven 500lb bombs in two separate raids in the east

Ongoing: Defence Secretary Michael Fallon warned that the campaign 'is not going to be quick', suggesting it could take years to resolve

But Ahmad has given up his country as lost, determined to look instead to the future.

He added: ‘This generation is lost, this generation is ruined…for a long time. And, I think by living in Europe I would have a better life for my kids, I can live wherever, whatever it takes. I don’t care about myself, what I care about is my kids.

‘Before, in Syria, I was working in a tourism agency. I spent most of my time at work. When I finished, I would go and work with my father on the farm. It was a flower farm.

‘We had about 15 acres of land and part of that farm had these greenhouses, three of them. Now I have absolutely no idea what’s happened with our farm. Maybe it’s not there, maybe it’s still there, maybe no one conquered that land, who knows?

‘Here in Jordan, we are helped by NGOs. I hope that Oxfam continues doing this work, we need help. Everyone needs help. Other refugees need help, from Oxfam and other agencies.

‘I hope they can continue with their work, for the refugees in need.’