Posted on 01/09/2006 9:24:34 AM PST by areafiftyone
ATLANTA, Jan 9 (Reuters) - An Iraqi baby with a life-threatening birth defect was "doing well" and recovering on Monday after surgery, an Atlanta hospital said.
Three-month-old Noor was sent to the United States for medical treatment by members of Georgia's Army National Guard who came across her during a raid on her family's house in Iraq last month.
Noor, who arrived in Atlanta with her grandmother and father more than a week ago, had surgery to straighten out her spinal cord at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, a pediatric hospital that is providing free care for the infant.
The baby 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.
The hospital said Noor was "doing well" in a statement released shortly after the nearly three-hour surgery on Monday.
During the surgery, doctors made an incision on the fluid-filled growth on her back, located her spinal cord and moved it to its proper place, said Jennifer Sinclair, a spokeswoman at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Doctors then covered the back with skin.
"It looks like she will require the use of a wheelchair, that she may not be able to walk, but of course you don't want to say never," Sinclair said.
The baby's plight came to light when soldiers with the Georgia Army National Guard's 48th Brigade Combat Team searched her family's home in a poor Baghdad neighborhood last month, looking for insurgents.
They found none, but the baby's grandmother showed the soldiers a purple pouch protruding from the child's back and the soldiers sought help in finding her treatment. Without intervention, Noor would have died, doctors at the Atlanta hospital said.
A children's medical charity, Childspring International, helped organized Noor's trip to the United States and arranged for the baby and her relatives to stay in Atlanta.
More American soldiers terrorizing Iraqis and American imperialism at work! /moonbat
But if we gave this story to Iraqi newspapers it wouldn't be 'professional'. Good for the little girl; and good for the good guys.
Praise be to Your Name, Lord Jesus, for allowing baby Noor to live and come though this operation.
Praise be to Your Name, Lord Jesus, for allowing baby Noor to live and come though this operation.
My bad, I double-posted.
I'm glad she is going to be okay. Hopefully with lots of care and prayers and maybe some good physical therapy she can perhaps walk. I believe there is hope for this kid to walk. She's a real cutie too. Everytime I see that face on camera she's smiling away.
Good news ping
Thanks for the ping SL.
Great story.:)
Wonderful news! "Never say never" is right. She's so young, who can say what she will be able to do. :-)
Years ago I worked in a diner and used to wait on one young man confined to a wheelchair by spina bifida. He was very spastic and most people seemed to act like he had some nasty disease. But he was one of the most friendly, sweetest, great sense of humor, people that I have ever known.
I'm sure he was glad to have you treat him with respect and dignity!
And she's got such chubby-wubby cheeks too.
Thank God for her and thank God for our troops. America is the greatest and our military beyond descrpition. God bless our troops.
Good to read good news about Iraqis and Americans.
Good to read good news about Iraqis and Americans.
Yeah, No Question.
I'd REALLY like to see ANY ChiCom or Iranian grunts help a disabled Iraqi child by sending it for medical Treatment in Beijing or Tehran.
Was this surgery sanctioned by the UN? /sarcasm
...but only if Kojo Annan had skimmed $20,000 of the medical finances available to buy himself a round-trip air ticket to visit Atlanta for a hospital bedside photo opportunity...
..and to get his Mercedes-Benz some maintenance for free in exchange for "diplomatic services".
Wouldn't happen I'm afraid.
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