Posted on 01/02/2006 9:11:04 AM PST by xzins
Army's mercy mission to save baby
January 02, 2006 ATLANTA: An Iraqi baby with a life-threatening birth defect has arrived in the US for medical treatment after being sent by American soldiers who found her during a raid on her family's home.
Three-month-old Baby Noor, as she is called in the US media, was taken by ambulance to Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Georgia, a pediatric hospital that is donating surgery and other care for the infant.
Noor al-Zahra was born with spina bifida, a birth defect in which the spinal column fails to completely close, leaving part of the spinal cord exposed and susceptible to life-threatening infection. She has a large growth on her back.
Roger Hudgins, the hospital's chief of neurosurgery, said the child would stay at the hospital overnight for a general evaluation of her condition.
"It's going to take a number of days (to evaluate) if things are stable," he said yesterday. "This child is coming from a foreign country so we need to make sure that she's healthy and capable of withstanding surgery."
He said an operation to close the back of the child's spinal column was tentatively scheduled to take place in a week, but doctors could operate sooner if complications were discovered.
Dr Hudgins said that although the surgery would be a "significant undertaking", he thought Noor's chances of survival were good. The surgery to close the spinal column would take three hours and, if successful, the baby could return home in one or two months.
Noor, wearing an orange suit and carried by her grandmother, Soad, arrived to cheers at the airport. The baby's father, Haider, also travelled to Atlanta.
Her path to the US began earlier this month when soldiers with the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team searched her family's home in a poor Baghdad neighbourhood when looking for insurgents.
They found none, but the baby's grandmother showed the soldiers the purple pouch protruding from the child's back and the soldiers sought help in finding her treatment.
Without intervention, Noor would have died, Dr Hudgins said.
"Obviously, good works happen every day in Iraq and good works happen with the soldiers," he said.
"We hear all of the negative (stories) so it's about time that we have the opportunity to hear some of the good."
Now THAT'S a BattleCry I'll be taking up....and using to Liberals detriment!
...and FULL STEAM into CHAPTER 7 with 'em too!!!
"Praise should go to not only the big hearted soldiers, but to the doctors who donate their skills and to the hospitals who donate their services. America really is a great country."
Bingo...well said, McGavin. I do want Sen Patty Jihad Murray -DUM-WA to tell us where the Al quada-built hospitals, roads, schools, etc are. Oh, and tell us about the superb medical care that Al quada provides.
Senator, we are waiting.
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GARRY OWEN, Sir
(a U.S. 7th Cavalry Salute 2-U)
http://www.lzxray.com/guyer_collection.htm
(Photos)
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Hey, sKerry, what was that you said about our beloved troops terrorizing women and children? Thank God the American people recognized this anti-American putz for what he is. God Bless our Military!
Related:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1550875/posts
Iraqi 'Baby Noor' Arrives in Ga. for Care
Thanks, Calpernia. Happy New Year!
Yes, and if it happens, the US Army will be blamed by the media, too!
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