No More Victims - News Archive

Tiny shrapnel bits pepper the left side of 2-year-old Alaa’ Abd’s face, looking at first glance like black freckles. Metal slivers in her left eye have left her with little vision, and each day she sees less.In hopes of restoring her sight, Alaa’ and her father arrived Saturday in Orlando, where she will be seen this week by an eye specialist.

Alaa’ became one of the faces of the Iraq war in May when, her family says, a U.S. tank shell burst inside their home, blinding the child and rending her flesh from head to toe. The explosion killed two of her brothers and three cousins.

The children, all younger than 10, were having a tea party.

Now Alaa’ (pronounced Ah-LAH) has a chance of regaining her sight thanks to the Orlando eye surgeon, a local college student who wouldn’t take no for an answer and the group NoMoreVictims.org that tries to get medical help for the war’s youngest victims. (more…)

One question stands between a 7-year-old Iraqi war victim and reconstructive surgery in Pittsburgh that could bring him a more normal life: How can his sponsors raise their half of the hospital bill when there’s no way of knowing how high that bill will run?

The child, Abdul Hakim Ismael, was wounded last year in the city of Fallujah. His family said he was hit by fire from an American air strike, leaving the left side of his face severely disfigured — blinded in one eye with damaged eye lid, socket, jaw and cheek, making it difficult for him to eat.

An organization called No More Victims is trying to make Hakim the fourth child it brings to the United States for specialized medical care not available in war-torn Iraq. (Two children have been treated in California and Texas, and a third is slated for care in Florida.) Dan Kovalik, a Pittsburgh lawyer with the United Steelworkers and a volunteer for the organization, approached a local surgeon for her help. (more…)