AN AMERICAN soldier has brought home a disfigured Iraqi boy and raised funds for him to have surgery after meeting him at a checkpoint.
Mohammed, now 12, did not speak much English, but Major David Howell had no trouble understanding the badly burned boy's request last November to take him to the United States.
It took several months to get the paperwork in place, but Mohammed fi
nally got his wish and arrived on Wednesday night in Michigan for plastic surgery, courtesy of American donors.
During the next 12 to 18 months, doctors will perform skin grafts and reconstructive surgery at Lansing's Sparrow Hospital to repair damage Mohammed suffered as an infant when his house caught fire.
Mohammed was left with scars on his scalp and face after suffering burns over 30 per cent of his body. His left index finger is deformed, and he has little use of his left arm.
Mohammed was warmly welcomed to the US on Thursday during a ceremony at the Michigan Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, with Maj Howell, a Michigan army national guard physician's assistant.
Mohammed will attend classes at the Greater Lansing Islamic School in East Lansing, and live with a Muslim host family that has roots in Iraq.
Maj Howell said he gets emotional talking about Mohammed, a shy boy who loves soccer. He will not divulge the boy's full name because his family remains in danger in Iraq. His father was killed by insurgents two years ago for working as a translator for the US marines in Ramadi.
Maj Howell said he is keeping in touch with Mohammed's family via e-mail and will take him back to Iraq when his treatment is finished.
