'Tiny Tim' returns to family after surgery

Courtesy Photo | Timmy, with the assistance of his crutches, walks for the first time in months thanks...... read more read more

Courtesy Photo | Timmy, with the assistance of his crutches, walks for the first time in months thanks to the assistance and support of Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers in Baghdad. As a reward for walking again, Sgt. Christopher Pertuita, a team medic and a native of Saraland, Ala., presented Timmy with his watch. (U.S. Army photo/Maj. Tim Hayden)  see less | View Image Page

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

02.15.2008

Courtesy Story

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

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By 1st Lt. Tabitha Hernandez
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division

BAGHDAD – A Military Transition Team from 1st Battalion, 64th Armored Regiment, attached to 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Multi-National Division – Baghdad, continues its ongoing sponsorship of an Iraqi youth who was injured in an improvised explosive device attack last year.

The young boy, affectionately known as Timmy, was returned to his family on Valentines Day, Feb. 14, and walked to the front door of his home with assistance of his crutches.

The team unofficially "adopted" the young boy in December when the Soldiers first began their training with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Brigade, 6th Iraqi Army Division.

Timmy has undergone multiple rounds of surgery at the 86th Combat Support Hospital, which is located in the International Zone in Baghdad. He has slowly been able to stand, and ultimately to walk with crutches, after months of immobility.

It was early in the summer when Task Force Rogue began an enduring series of medical support operations called Operation Rogue Aims, which is designed to cover all aspects of the battalion's cooperative medical engagements, regardless of scope, said Maj. Tim Hayden, a Dunfires, Va., native, who serves with 1st Bn., 64th Armored Regt.

When the MiTT took over the reigns of training from their Iraqi army counterparts, an unofficial part of the relief in place was to take over the care of Timmy.

The previous team found the child as they cleared houses, along with the IA companies, during the summer-long fight to secure the neighborhood of Jamia, said Hayden.

No Soldier worth his boots, he said, can bypass a wounded child – it violates everything Soldiers fight and stand for. So, the team made a commitment that day to doing everything they could to make a difference for the young boy.

They evacuated Timmy to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in the IZ, which is where the most serious of the wounded go, Hayden said. The doctors there were able to save his leg and patch up the wounds to the rest of his body. He had a myriad of injuries across most of his lower body.

After his initial surgery, the team checked on the young boy from time to time at his home in Jamia, Hayden said, adding that unfortunately, the care he received from his family was not the greatest.

He essentially remained motionless on the floor of his home for months on end. His shattered femur did not heal properly despite the external fixator emplaced during the initial surgery, and he suffered from infections.

Sgt. Christopher Pertuit, the MiTTs team medic, who is a native of Saraland, Ala., took a personal interest in the young boy.

"When we first started this, little Timmy asked for my watch," Pertuit said. "I told him he could have it when I saw him up and walking on his own. I look forward to the day I come back off patrol without my watch."

During mission planning, they planned routes that allowed them to visit and check on the boy. At first he remained nameless; during pre-mission briefs, he was just 'the little crippled kid," said Hayden. With Christmas fast approaching however, and in the holiday spirit motivated by classic Christmas episodes of the TV show Southpark and Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol," he soon became known as "Little Timmy or Tiny Tim." The team set a goal to get him cleaned up and home for Christmas.

The previous team had already coordinated for an additional surgery, and Pertuit immediately took over.

Pertuit is no ordinary combat medic – he also holds an additional skill identifier as an orthopedic technician, said Hayden. He knew exactly what had to be done to save the boy's leg and to allow him any chance of ever walking normally again. The team transported Little Timmy to the CSH for a four-day surgical stay.

While there, he was treated by a world-class surgical team that removed the external fixator and replaced it with a plate to stabilize the leg, Hayden said. The team also recast his ankle to set it at the right angle to heal properly, cleaned his lower leg of severe skin infections and began the first round of physical therapy to regain mobility in the frozen joints.

Four days later, children from his neighborhood ran excitedly in the streets when they saw the patrol pull up in front of his Spartan home to return Timmy to his parents. Pertuit carefully explained all the instructions to the boy's family and made a promise to continue to check on the boy and monitor his progress.

TF Rogue will continue to check on him as the Soldiers patrol through the area. Their next goal is simple – to see him play soccer with the rest of his siblings and friends in Jamia – now that the streets are safe to do so, Hayden said.