Texans join forces to give Iraqi child new lease on life

Heart of Texas: Texans join forces to give Iraqi child new lease on life

By Master Sgt. Lek Mateo
56th Brigade Combat Team Public Affairs Office
Texas Army National Guard

AL BATHA, Iraq Parents throughout the world try to teach their children the hard lessons of life they will need to help them grow healthy and prosper, but the lesson that Jawad Kadhem will teach his ailing son is that of care and compassion as strangers come together to see that his child receive life-saving medical care.

Afflicted with a rare heart condition, 7-year-old Kadhem Jawad said good-bye to his mother, brothers and sisters as he and his father departed their dusty town in southern Iraq for the Texas Children’s Hospital of Houston, Texas, in the United States to undergo a critical heart operation that will hopefully correct the problem.

Kadhem’s journey began last January when his mother’s desperate plea for help at the town clinic caught the attention of Maj. Brian Stevens, a civil affairs (CA) officer of the 56th Brigade Combat Team, 36th Infantry Division, Texas Army National Guard, who had arrived in Iraq just a month earlier with the 56th BCT to begin a year-long deployment.

Major Stevens said he was so touched by the mother’s plea that he took the medical documents and x-rays she had to a military doctor at the base who is a cardiologist. After consulting with another cardiologist back in the United States who specializes in pediatrics, he determined that the heart problem was repairable.   

       
The major realized that Americans cannot help all of the thousands of Iraqi children who need medical care, but he was determined to try and make a difference in the life of one family until Iraq’s health providers can treat children such as Kadhem.

 We normally would try to use the Iraqi health care system first if we can, Major Stevens explained. But in Kadhem’s case we had to take him to the U.S. for advanced care because the cardiac hospital in Baghdad doesn’t have the capability to do thoracic-pediatric surgery.

Major Stevens added that, for him, seeing the overwhelming amount of support in the endeavor to help Kadhem was amazing. He said it made him feel good to know that numerous people and organizations, such as the Texas Children’s Hospital of Houston International Patient Service Division, AIM Investment, The AIM Foundation, The Ronald McDonald House, Lufthansa Airlines, Chireno United Methodist Church of Texas and The Humanitarian Operation Center in Kuwait, cared enough to get involved.

The 18,000-mile trip from Iraq to the United States began as Jawad and his young son boarded a British Royal Air Force C-130J Hercules. The aircraft, designed to ferry troops and cargo into combat, would then be used as a flight of mercy to take the family to Kuwait. There they would receive their visas and depart for Houston on a Lufthansa commercial jetliner at no expense to the family.  

Cpl. Lenny Wilson, of Stafford, England, and a soldier of the British Army Royal Logistics Corps, 29th Regiment 280th Movement Control Team, said that it is a wonderful thing for the coalition forces and civilian health care providers to come together to help a young boy.

It makes me very proud to see that our Royal Air Force is taking part in helping in transport Kadhem to the America, Corporal Wilson exclaimed.

After the colossal British Hercules touched down at Kuwait International Airport with its precious cargo, the team was met by Maj. Glenn Rubalcava, another CA officer of the U.S. Army Reserve 8th Medical Brigade based in Staten Island, N.Y., currently assigned to the 351st Civil Affairs Command in Kuwait.

 Major Rubalcava explained that it is very difficult to perform this type of mission, and only a handful of military units have tried and have been successful in getting an Iraqi child back to the United States or other coalition countries for medical care, but the 56th BCT is one of themand that to him is a very commendable feat.

The Soldiers of the 56th BCT definitely deserve a big applause for following through with their efforts in getting Kadhem to the U.S. for medical treatment, Major Rubalcava said.

As final goodbyes were said, a grateful Iraqi father embraced the Soldiers who months ago were total strangers and now are close friends. He thanked each of them for giving him hope again and, most importantly, a second chance at life for Kadhem.  

It is a very difficult time for my family with Kadhem’s medical condition, Mr. Kadhem said. I hope one day his heart will be better so that he can live a normal life again.