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Iraqi teenager grows 5 inches after being refit with two prostheses at Yanke Bionics in Akron
By Katie Byard
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Tuesday, Nov 18, 2008
Majid Fadhil Sabor is returning to Iraq today five inches taller than he was in late August.
New prosthetic legs have replaced ones that the 15-year-old had outgrown.
The Iraqi teenager, who spent several months in Ohio for treatment three years ago, returned in August to be refitted for new legs.
''Thank you, thank you, thank you,'' Majid said as he stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall in a new pair of tennis shoes during a goodbye gathering at Yanke Bionics in Akron on Monday.
''They won't recognize you'' in Iraq, said Kevin Montini, a prosthetist for Yanke Bionics who worked with Majid in 2005.
Majid was one of the first Iraqi children wounded in the war to be treated in the United States.
When Majid returned in August, he was 5 feet tall, the old legs making him ''undersized,'' said Steve Sosebee, founder of the Kent-based nonprofit group Palestine Children's Relief Fund. The group arranged for free U.S. medical care for Majid.
In February 2004, the boy lost one leg below the knee and the other was severely injured when a roadside bomb exploded near him while he was walking to school with his cousin in Al Kut, Iraq. His cousin died.
Iraqi surgeons worked on Majid for about three months, trying to save his remaining
leg, but it was ultimately amputated below the knee.
Monday, prosthetists at Yanke Bionics made one last check of Majid's new legs, which he has been wearing for several weeks. Yanke Bionics and Ossur, a prosthetics maker, donated the $25,000 cost of the legs and related labor.
Majid brought with him a homemade thank-you card decorated with pictures. There was a picture of Majid at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant and shots of Montini and Kevin Spicer, another prosthetist.
Majid smiled widely and spoke few English words at the gathering. Sosebee's wife, Huda, was his interpreter.
Spicer looked at Majid's left limb and asked whether it felt OK. Majid had surgery last month to remove the sharp edge that had developed on his left fibula.
''It just tickles,'' Majid said.
''No waja then when you get back home,'' Spicer said, explaining that ''waja'' is Arabic for pain.
After the surgery, Majid wore the new legs and for a while stood 5 feet 6 inches tall — an inch taller than he is now.
Last week, Majid reluctantly allowed Montini to make him an inch shorter.
''I tried to explain to him if I could shorten him an inch, it would make it that much better,'' Montini said. ''He'll be more stable.''
Majid probably won't return for a checkup until he's 18.
''He probably won't see that much growth'' over the next few years, Montini said.
Majid said he would miss the Sosebee family, with whom he has been staying, and ''the two Kevins'' — the Yanke Bionics prosthetists.
''And he's going to miss the food — especially the chicken,'' Huda Sosebee interpreted.
''And he also said he would miss his friends a lot,'' she said, referring to students at Kent's Stanton Middle School, which Majid attended for several weeks.
''E-mail us. Send us pictures of your home,'' Spicer said after hearing that Majid will return to Iraq with a laptop computer.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Majid Fadhil Sabor is returning to Iraq today five inches taller than he was in late August.
New prosthetic legs have replaced ones that the 15-year-old had outgrown.
The Iraqi teenager, who spent several months in Ohio for treatment three years ago, returned in August to be refitted for new legs.
''Thank you, thank you, thank you,'' Majid said as he stood 5 feet, 5 inches tall in a new pair of tennis shoes during a goodbye gathering at Yanke Bionics in Akron on Monday.
''They won't recognize you'' in Iraq, said Kevin Montini, a prosthetist for Yanke Bionics who worked with Majid in 2005.
Majid was one of the first Iraqi children wounded in the war to be treated in the United States.
When Majid returned in August, he was 5 feet tall, the old legs making him ''undersized,'' said Steve Sosebee, founder of the Kent-based nonprofit group Palestine Children's Relief Fund. The group arranged for free U.S. medical care for Majid.
In February 2004, the boy lost one leg below the knee and the other was severely injured when a roadside bomb exploded near him while he was walking to school with his cousin in Al Kut, Iraq. His cousin died.
Iraqi surgeons worked on Majid for about three months, trying to save his remaining
leg, but it was ultimately amputated below the knee.
Monday, prosthetists at Yanke Bionics made one last check of Majid's new legs, which he has been wearing for several weeks. Yanke Bionics and Ossur, a prosthetics maker, donated the $25,000 cost of the legs and related labor.
Majid brought with him a homemade thank-you card decorated with pictures. There was a picture of Majid at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant and shots of Montini and Kevin Spicer, another prosthetist.
Majid smiled widely and spoke few English words at the gathering. Sosebee's wife, Huda, was his interpreter.
Spicer looked at Majid's left limb and asked whether it felt OK. Majid had surgery last month to remove the sharp edge that had developed on his left fibula.
''It just tickles,'' Majid said.
''No waja then when you get back home,'' Spicer said, explaining that ''waja'' is Arabic for pain.
After the surgery, Majid wore the new legs and for a while stood 5 feet 6 inches tall — an inch taller than he is now.
Last week, Majid reluctantly allowed Montini to make him an inch shorter.
''I tried to explain to him if I could shorten him an inch, it would make it that much better,'' Montini said. ''He'll be more stable.''
Majid probably won't return for a checkup until he's 18.
''He probably won't see that much growth'' over the next few years, Montini said.
Majid said he would miss the Sosebee family, with whom he has been staying, and ''the two Kevins'' — the Yanke Bionics prosthetists.
''And he's going to miss the food — especially the chicken,'' Huda Sosebee interpreted.
''And he also said he would miss his friends a lot,'' she said, referring to students at Kent's Stanton Middle School, which Majid attended for several weeks.
''E-mail us. Send us pictures of your home,'' Spicer said after hearing that Majid will return to Iraq with a laptop computer.
Katie Byard can be reached at 330-996-3781 or kbyard@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Posted 05:03 PM, 12/08/2008
Real nice, this kid gets superb health care while thousands of american kids are getting attacked\maimed\killed on a daily basis by those animals in Iraq.
Take care of our OWN first!
