Silver Lining

Though we have some rough days over here, I want to share a pleasant experience I had recently. While there is some argument as to who is "at fault" over here, there is no question the children of this country are truly innocent bystanders in this conflict. We recently cared for an 11-year-old little girl who was playing at her house when she was shot in the head by a stray bullet from a nearby firefight. She was brought to our hospital in critical condition; unconcious, barely breathing, with swelling of her brain. We stabilized her, supported her breathing, and lowered the pressure in her brain, then evacuated her by helicopter to one of the larger hospitals in Balad. There the neurosurgeons took her to the operating room and performed brain surgery. A week later I was walking through my aid station to see this beautiful young girl and her father sitting in our patient holding area, having just returned from the hospital in Balad on the way back to their home in Ramadi. She was awake, conversant, smiling, and walking around holding her father's hand. The neurosurgeons saved her life, but it was an absolute pleasure to play even a small part in returning this little girl to her father and reuniting their family.