PORTLAND, MAINE — Afif Abdulhameed Otaiwi sat down to lunch Friday at the StarEast Cafe on Forest Avenue with a big smile on his face, his eyes beaming.
“I am very happy now,” he said as he and daughter Noora dug into a plate of chicken and lamb kabobs served with basmati rice and vegetables.
Otaiwi had just received a phone call from his family in Iraq, the first communication they’ve had since he and Noora landed in Portland on Thursday afternoon.
With the help of a nonprofit group called No More Victims, Otaiwi brought 6-year-old Noora to Portland so she can receive treatment at Maine Medical Center. Noora was shot by a U.S. sniper on Oct. 23, 2006, as she was riding in the family car, and lost part of her skull.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — An Iraqi girl whose foot was injured in a bomb attack underwent surgery on Thursday to amputate her foot.
Family said 7-year-old Rusul Jalal’s right foot was severely injured when a missile hit near her home in Iraq. Doctors said her foot was turned almost completely backwards, forcing Jalal to walk on the bottom of her ankle bone rather than her foot.Jalal was flown to Greenville to undergo surgery at the Shriners Hospital by a group called No More Victims.
Doctors said they successfully removed Jalal’s foot during the two-hour surgery on Thursday.
Doctors said her recovery is expected to last just over a month. Jalal will then be fitted for a prosthetic foot.
GREENVILLE, S.C. — An Iraqi girl who was left disfigured by a U.S. missile attack had surgery in Greenville Thursday.
Pediatric orthopaedic surgeons at the Greenville Shriners Hospital amputated 7-year-old Rusul Jalal’s right foot during a two-hour surgery.Melissa Bayles, hospital public relations specialist, said that Rusul came out of the surgery in great spirits and was in her room laughing and talking with her father.
Rusul is expected to stay in the hospital for a few days before going back to the Ronald McDonald house to recover.
Once her cast comes off in approximately four weeks and her leg is completely healed, Rusul will be fitted for a below the knee prosthetic.
The little girl is in Greenville for treatment after a missile attack disfigured her leg while playing outside her home in Iraq.
Rusul’s older sister Salee came to Greenville last summer for medical treatment for injuries she suffered in the same missile attack. She is back home in Iraq and WYFF was told she is doing well.
About 3,500 miles from her mother and home, Noora Afif Abdulhameed stepped off an AngelFlight plane Thursday afternoon at Portland International Jetport while clasping her father’s hand.
The 6-year-old Iraqi girl, who lost part of her skull to a sniper’s bullet, had arrived in Portland to receive the medical treatment that she was unable to find in her war-torn country.
Across the tarmac, a small group was waiting to greet the girl and her dad. Among them were Claire Phillips and Meghan Cantlin, two 8-year-olds from Falmouth Brownie Troop No. 1955 who presented Noora with a basket filled with a stuffed bear, a pink Barbie baseball cap and lots of toys.
In another basket was a handknit robe, slippers and a handmade quilt that had been signed by all of the troop members.
Madison Hurley, 5, of Portland gave Noora a bouquet of balloons — one of which looked like a U.S. flag — tied with colorful ribbons. She paid for the balloons with her allowance money, and hopes to have Noora over for a play date before her surgery.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A six-year-old Iraqi girl injured by an American sniper more than a year ago in Iraq is in Maine for surgery to repair some of the damage.
Nora Abdulhameed has had multiple surgeries since she was hit in the skull by a bullet in October 2006, but she still needs a prosthetic placed in her skull to protect her brain. She’ll also be getting some plastic surgery.
A doctor at Maine Medical Center will deliver those services free of charge and Ronald McDonald house will provide free room and board.
Seven-year-old Rusul Jalal happily snapped pictures of the crowd that turned out to greet her Thursday at Greenville Spartanburg Airport, going through a disposable camera in minutes.
The Iraqi girl is in Greenville for treatment at Shriners Hospital for Children, the same place her cousin Salee Allawe was treated last year.
Raised as Salee’s sister, Rusul suffered muscle and bone damage to her right leg in the same 2006 missile strike that cost Salee her legs. Salee spent three months in Greenville before returning to Iraq. And at the airport, it was clear that she’d let Rusul know what she could expect.
“She told me, ‘You will be very lucky,’ ” Rusul said through interpreter Haifa Abdulhadi. “She said, don’t be worried. They are very good in medicine and they are going to fix your legs.”
Rusul and Salee’s father, Hussen Feras Allawe, left the town of Haswa, near Fallujah, about two months ago and traveled by car to Jordan.
“That’s a very scary part of the process because the roads are not safe,” said Lisa Hall, a member of No More Victims Greenville, the group that brought both girls to the Upstate. “You can get caught in crossfire or stopped and robbed.”
On Tuesday, once the visas were in order, they flew to New York. And today, Rusul will have her first visit with doctors at Shriners.
On January 9th, 2006 an Iraqi family was travelling from their home in Mosul to Baghdad for a holiday, when for a still unknown reason, U.S. soldiers fired on the family van. The father, Sabah, was shot and when the van burst into flames, his wife, Su’ad, was killed. One of their children, Omar, was burned on much of his head and arms. The aid organization, No More Victims, brought Omar and his father to Children’s Hospital in Boston where Omar has been getting medical care. Doctors have donated their time to perform surgeries on Omar and the Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation has donated money to help cover hospital costs.
