AMMAN -- Less than one week after receiving life-saving open-heart surgery by a team of doctors from Jordan and the US, Ahmed is looking forward to the day when he can go home to Baghdad and join his friends in a game of football.
Ahmed is one of 10 young Jordanian and Iraqi children with operable congenital heart disease who travelled to the capital last week to receive open-heart surgery at Al Khalidi Hospital performed by volunteer medical practitioners in cooperation with Gift of Life Amman (GOLA) and Gift of Life Indianapolis.
The shy 15-year-old, whose slight, emaciated frame could easily pass for that of an eight-year-old, grew up with congenital heart disease, which stunted his growth during childhood.
Leaving his father and six siblings in Baghdad, Ahmed came to Amman with his mother, Maha, last week through the Gift of Life International's Amman chapter for much-needed surgery to repair the hole in his heart.
"He used to be too tired to play, he was very inactive... and he was very sad and angry because he couldn't play with the other children," his mother told The Jordan Times.
The surgeries were sponsored in partnership with the Rotarian-supported GOLA, which began in November 2005, and is funded through private donors and the dedication of a committed group of volunteers.
Ahmed's trip to Amman was made possible through the efforts of his paediatrician in Baghdad and his contact with Al Khalidi Hospital, as well as the goodwill of ECC, an international remedial construction agency with offices in Iraq.
All the patients, ranging in age from nine months to 15 years, come from underprivileged families who lack the required means to pay for the expensive surgery. These families would otherwise have to wait their turn for surgery, amid a long queue of patients who are unable to pay for private care.
"Our ultimate goal is to save the lives of Jordanian children whose families cannot afford these expensive procedures, and we're proud to extend a helping hand to our Iraqi brethren, as well," Hemude Sartawi of GOLA said, adding, "...if we can form a synergetic relationship with similar providers like the Royal Medical Services, then that will only further serve our common cause."
Dr Khaled Salaymeh, a paediatric cardiologist at Al-Khalidi and Dr Fadi Khoury, a cardiovascular surgeon, made up the Jordanian contingent of the Gift of Life Amman team. Seven medical volunteers from Indianapolis' Riley Hospital for Children, including paediatric cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon, Dr Mark Turrentine and paediatric cardiologist Dr Anne Farrell, worked in tandem with their Jordanian counterparts, performing 10 surgeries at Al Khalidi in one week.
"This is an important service to those patients and to our community" Salaymeh told The Jordan Times.
The young patients were selected through a screening process conducted by GOLA, whereby their families were evaluated on their socio-economic background and inability to pay for surgery at one of the Kingdom's private hospitals.
Gift of Life International began in 1974 at a Rotary Club on Long Island's North Shore. The idea of providing life-saving surgery for underprivileged children with congenital heart disease arose through a request from Kampala's Rotary Club.
The nonprofit organisation's first patient, Grace Agwaru of Kampala, received life-saving heart surgery when a group of volunteer doctors from Manhasset, New York travelled to Uganda to operate on her. Since then, Gift of Life International has operated on nearly 8,000 children in over 60 countries.
Through private fundraising the organisation's worldwide chapters have brought disadvantaged children to North American hospitals for life-saving surgery, while doctors from around the world have volunteered their expertise at clinics and hospitals abroad for patients whose conditions rendered them unable to travel.
"I've never seen such overwhelming family reactions as I've seen this past week. Emotions have ranged from euphoria to profound relief," Salaymeh said.
Indeed, Maha was full of praise for the Gift of Life team.
"They're angels of mercy," she told The Jordan Times, adding that she had changed her perception of Americans through her contact with the Riley medical team.
"When the American soldiers entered Baghdad we saw horrible images on television... but these doctors are so kind-hearted that we've completely changed our perception of the Americans. I will go back home and tell that to everyone."
Through Gift of Life Indianapolis, Riley Children's Hospital has opened its doors to countless underprivileged patients from Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan and Iraq. This is first time the Riley medical team ventured abroad.
"This has been the best experience of my life," Turrentine told The Jordan Times. "Many of us are so privileged and, yet, so many are not. To give yourself back to people who would not have had the opportunity is so humbling. I receive more through the smiles of my patients and the gratitude of the parents than you could ever pay me," he said.
It is not only the children and their families who are benefiting from the project, the medical staff themselves are enjoying the opportunity to exchange information and resources.
"There is certain equipment we lack that the US team has shed light on," Salaymeh noted, adding that certain techniques the Riley medical team brought to Amman has saved time on the operating table.
For their part, the American doctors commented on their interaction with "the two finest physicians" in Jordan.
"We came here hoping to share with them techniques... We are very impressed with the Jordanian medical people, they are very interested in being the best they can be," noted Turrentine.
"There is an emotional attachment [with the families and co-workers]," Farrell explained on her last day in Amman, adding that she wished she was staying in the Kingdom longer. "We have developed such camaraderie with the people we've met."
Both hope to return to the Kingdom within the year for follow-up surgeries on two of the patients and anticipate further exchanges with Khoury and Salaymeh in the future.
"The common denominator among every person is children; they are the point of our benevolence," Turrentine explained. "They are pure and unaffected souls."
By Cheryl Haines
© Jordan Times 2007
