Courtesy Photo | Soldiers of Co. B, 1st Bn, 17th Inf. Rgt. visit with Samah Arajy, the Iraqi girl they...... read more read more
Story and photos by Sgt. 1st Class David P. Benamati
138th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
LSA DIAMONDBACK, Iraq (Jan. 25, 2006) -- The smile on the face of the little Iraqi girl in the Intensive Care Ward of the U.S. Army's 47th Combat Surgical Hospital has an uplifting effect on the otherwise somber mood of the hospital.
Samah Arajy is a precocious 12 year-old Iraqi girl recovering from wounds she sustained when she was caught in the crossfire between Coalition Forces and insurgents last September in her home town of Tal Afar, Iraq. Initially, she was treated at a local Iraqi hospital and released shortly thereafter. Because her family was unable to get follow up medical care, her wounded leg became infected.
It was obvious to her father, Mohammed Arajy that his daughter needed medical treatment soon. Help came in the form of 2nd Platoon, Company B, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment. While in Mosul, where Samah's family was staying temporarily, her father sent her brother running outside their residence to flag down the U.S. Army Stryker vehicle on patrol to ask for some anti-bacterial ointment. Capt. Brent Irish, platoon leader for 2nd Plt. stopped the Stryker and asked to see the girl.
"I asked our medic, Spc Jacob O. Olthoff to have a look at her and see what he could do for her," said Capt. Irish. "As Olthoff was removing the bandages, we could tell that she was not healing right. The look and smell of the infection was obvious. So we decided to bring her to the CSH for treatment and her father agreed to let us take her there."
The doctors at the CSH examined Samah, realized the infection was serious, and needed immediate medical attention; care she would not be able to get locally. Lt. Col. Gregory Semanick, is a doctor of pediatrics and was her doctor at the ward. Lt. Col Semanick knew her condition was serious. "I knew that if we didn't treat her, she would lose her leg to the infection," said Lt. Col. Semanick.
The Soldiers of 2nd Platoon visit her almost daily to check on her condition. For them it is therapeutic as well, an escape from the tensions of daily patrols in dangerous neighborhoods. She has become their surrogate daughter and they lavish her with the loving attention they would give their own children.
Since she was admitted to the CSH, Samah has under gone several operations and six weeks of intensive anti-biotic treatments. Her condition has improved dramatically and her leg is healing. The staff and doctors treat her like one of their own children; pushing her up and down the corridors of the hospital in her wheelchair, joking, and playing games. They call her "The Darling of the ward".
| Date Taken: | 02.03.2006 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2006 09:24 |
| Story ID: | 5299 |
| Location: | MOSUL, IQ |
| Web Views: | 281 |
| Downloads: | 158 |
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