Iraqi boy believes Soldiers make a difference

Photo By Lt. Col. Deanna Bague | Wardah Abdulla, center, emotionally expresses her gratitude to Lt. Col. Rhonda McGuire for helping her children receive medical care.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

12.05.2008

Story by Maj. Deanna Bague 

Fort Bliss Public Affairs Office

By Maj. Deanna Bague
Fort Bliss Public Affairs

BAGHDAD – Ten-year-old Ali Abdulla sat on the edge of his bed with rods and pins holding his leg bones in place, but still managed to smile when he spoke affectionately of two Soldiers he said touched his life.

"I love them a lot because they have a big heart," said Ali through an interpreter. "They are very special people in my life."

Ali was referring to Lt. Col. Rhonda McGuire, a public affairs officer for Joint Area Support Group, 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, and Chief Warrant Officer Russell Hayes, a Black Hawk helicopter pilot with 1st Battalion, 126th Aviation Regiment. Both Soldiers played a major role in making sure Ali and his 8-year-old sister Baraa received much-needed medical treatment.

McGuire was on patrol with Airmen who guard the streets of the International Zone and found they were not only patrolling the streets, but also distributing humanitarian aid to displaced families living here. She heard about Ali's family and met them. McGuire wrote an article about the patrol missions and mentioned the family as one of many that received clothing and toys from Airmen and Soldiers. One particular passage mentioned three members of the family had dwarfism.

That excerpt caught Hayes' attention. Hayes, who has a daughter with dwarfism, made contact with the family and discovered the children were afflicted with something more severe, he said. Compelled to help these children, Hayes managed to get in contact with Matt Roloff of "Little People, Big World," a hit reality TV show on the TLC network.

Roloff had American surgeons and physicians contact McGuire about the children. X-rays were taken and sent to those physicians, who then made a determination to help Ali and Baraa by straightening out their limbs, said McGuire.

Dr. Bruno Himmler, the former health attaché to Iraq, paired Drs. Ali Al-Hilli, an orthopedic surgeon and director of Medical City Orthopedic, and Scott Hoffinger, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon from California. They jointly performed surgery on both Ali and Baraa.

"We worked with the American embassy here in Iraq, with the Health Attaché's office, Multi-National Force-Iraq's surgeon's office, and my unit, the Joint Area Support Group, and found a location where the surgeries could take place," said McGuire. "I did not know what would come of this story, but it was definitely a nice surprise."

The Abdullas are a poor family, and three of the six children have a medical condition affecting their skeletal systems and spines, said Al-Hilli.

"My commander, Brigadier General Myles Deering, challenged us to make a difference," said McGuire. "I feel this Iraqi family has been a special family to me, and not only to me but to my unit. I feel very honored to have been a part of their lives while I served over here."

"It's been a tremendous awakening for a lot of our Soldiers to learn what both sides of our responsibility are – not only on the military side, but on the human side too," said Deering, commander of JASG and 45th IBCT.

Al-Hilli said he was impressed by the acts of kindness the American Soldiers rendered.

"At first it was surprising – how can the military deal with such conditions?" said Al-Hilli. "[But] when you know them, you are sure this is part of their job. I think American people have a great heart [and] they can bring a lot of things to humanity."

Al-Hilli said Ali and Baraa's battle is not over. They need another surgery on their necks to stabilize their cervical spines, he said.

"The weight of their heads is too heavy; they have pressure on the nerves, and this will lead to paralysis of the rest of the body," said Al-Hilli.

Ali and Baraa's 13-year-old sister Saja, who was able to walk up until about the age of 10, did not receive the corrective surgeries on time. "It's too late to deal with her," said Al-Hilli.

Al-Hilli said he is not sure when and how the children will receive the next surgeries they need. "I don't know the plan for the future," said Al-Hilli. "If we didn't find the family in the right time, possibly they would have been crippled in the future. The Soldiers found the family [and] helped them.

"Let us say they saved the major part of the family ... so they can go back to school," Al-Hilli concluded. "I think Ali will have a great future ... so [the Soldiers] saved his life."

• Date Taken: 12.05.2008
• Date Posted: 12.05.2008 17:24
• Story ID: 27240
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ