Iraqi children get new wheels

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy | A line of Iraqi parents stand in line Dec. 13 to get into the Radwaniyah Palace...... read more read more

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy | A line of Iraqi parents stand in line Dec. 13 to get into the Radwaniyah Palace Complex Civil-Military Operations Center to get new wheelchairs for their children through Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids.  see less | View Image Page

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

12.14.2007

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy 

3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

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By Sgt. 1st Class Kerensa Hardy

IRAQ - Rakkasan medics from 1st Squadron, 33rd Cavalry, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), assembled the chairs that were donated by an organization called Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids.

The wheelchairs were given to disabled children who 1-33rd Cav. Regt. Soldiers encountered while conducting patrols. Company A, 478th Civil Affairs Company, 3rd Civil Affairs Battalion, attached to 1-33rd Cav. Regt., coordinated transportation and helped fit the children with the chairs at the Civil-Military Operations Center.

"I can't imagine what it must be like having to carry your child around from place to place," said Capt. James Phillips, 1-33rd Cav. Regt. battalion surgeon. "I'm just glad we were able to do something to help."

Some of the children's conditions have yet to be officially diagnosed, but they all require assistance getting around. Without sufficient medical care and no means to get necessary help, the wheelchair donations were a blessing to the families of these handicapped children.

Phillips said it was a little heartbreaking to see children who, in some cases, were teenagers and just getting their first wheelchairs, but he was glad to see their quality of life improve.

"This is a great feeling that you help our kids," said Ihsaa Hadi, whose 13-year-old son received a wheelchair. Hadi had a hard time expressing his gratitude and said he hadn't realized the U.S. Army could help him like this.

Noor Mustafa, 7-years-old, has limited use of her legs. She was orphaned when her parents passed away and is now in the care of her aunt. "It's a wonderful feeling to have the wheelchair," said Madoor, Noor's aunt. "I always have to carry her from place to place; now I have this wheelchair."

While giving handicapped children a means to get around may seem like a reward in itself, the founder of Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids, Brad Blauser, said it's also a means of supporting the troops on the ground. "I can't provide a wheelchair for every child in Iraq but I encourage the Army to use these for their strategic advantage ... to win the hearts and minds of the people who will help (them) the most."

In 2005, he helped get wheelchairs sent to the Mosul area and said it resulted in less attacks on U.S. Soldiers operating in the area.

"If you help an adult, their family really appreciates it," said Blauser, from Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas. "If you help a small child it touches the heart of the whole community."

Two years ago Blauser had people sending care packages and study Bibles for deployed troops, but they wanted to do more. He went to a friend and asked how people could do more. "Wheelchairs for children, we see a lot of children ... who drag themselves on the ground," was his friend's reply.

The friend, then Maj. David Brown, had watched an Iraqi boy struggle with a wheelchair that was too big and therefore useless to him. "He wanted to be able to help the boy but he didn't know how," Blauser said. "I put an e-mail out and within 30 days we had 31 kids' wheelchairs on the ground."

With that, Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids was born. Wheels for the World, Wheels of Love and Reach Out and Care Wheels, along with individual contributors, are responsible for the success of Blauser's brainchild.

The chairs handed out Dec. 13 were sent by www.ROCwheels.org, an organization that makes specialty high-quality pediatric wheelchairs designed for use in developing nations.

Blauser, who is the Kellog, Brown & Root theater safety manager for Leir Seigler, Inc., has been in Iraq for three years and says his work here is not done. To date, he has been the impetus for 250 wheelchairs, 4,500 study Bibles and 1,500 care packages that have been sent to Iraq.

Realizing that he won't be in Iraq forever, Blauser said he wants to continue supporting the troops any way he can – the wheelchairs are just one avenue. "There is so much good that could be done here, I honestly don't know how I can go home," he said.