Something you won't read in the papers...
The following is an exerpt from my friend Jobe's email home:
As important as the ANA mission is, the most important thing I will be working on here is something that fell into my lap almost as if it were fate. So, at the end of this email I’m going to ask everyone for a favor. One of my collateral duties here is to run the self help program for the ANA. Two days ago I found out that my foreman, Rahim, has a one and a half year old boy named Hibrahim, who was born with a congenial heart condition that is eerily similar to what my own son had. Of course, Jobe got his surgery when he was only eight days old, and today his cardiologist believes he may not need another surgery ever. Hibrahim is about a year and a half (Afghans don’t normally keep track of exact birthdays) and didn’t even have his condition diagnosed until this past February. When I saw Rahim after I found out about his son, I knew that I couldn’t live with myself, seeing him, talking to him, working with him, and getting to know him every day for a year, if I wasn’t doing everything in my power to help him. So, as a start, I wrote a short summary of Rahim and Hibrahim’s situation
(attached) and I plan on sending it to every humanitarian aid program, charity group, and pediatric cardiologist I can find. The favor I ask of you, because I won’t be able to find every possible lead on my own, is just to send it on to anyone you know that might have a contact or an even just an idea. The more people that see it, the better chances we have of finding someone who knows how to help. I’m not trying to start one of those chain letters, I’m just including this because there are programs out there, doctors without borders type stuff, and with some luck, one of you might have an inside contact that is able to get Hibrahim on a list for such a mission.
Thanks everyone, and don’t feel bad if you don’t know anyone. I don’t really know anyone either so I’m just going to shotgun it all over the place until I get some good leads.
Take care!
-Jobe
-ATTACHMENT-
Abdul Rahim Amiri lives with his family in Mazir-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where for the past five years, he has worked as a carpenter on the Afghan National Army (ANA) installation Camp Shaheen, and directly for US forces for the last three. Rahim is a delightful, hard working man, and a loving father of two. Unfortunately, the youngest of Rahim’s children, a boy of about 17 months named Mohammad Hibrahim, was born with congenial heart disease. Soon after birth, he became cyanotic and, for many months, local doctors were unable to properly diagnose the problem. Rahim and his wife constantly monitor Hibrahim while he sleeps because he often turns completely blue and must be rushed to the local clinic. In February (2007), a group of US Navy service members, who are forward deployed at Camp Shaheen, gave Rahim money to take his son to the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul, in search of diagnosis and treatment. There, doctors diagnosed Hibrahim with atrial septal defect (ASD) and transposition of the great vessels. Although Hibrahim’s condition is correctable, Rahim was told that no surgeon in Afghanistan is capable of the procedure, and he was encouraged to stop spending his money because, without surgery, Hibrahim’s condition is terminal.
We are exploring every conceivable course of action in our efforts to help Rahim save his son. We ask that anyone having any ideas, recommendations, or who might wish to help in any way, please contact LT Jobe Galli at savehibrahim@earthlink.net.
I will add another exerpt tomorrow, or as soon as I can. I hope this finds you all well.
Michael
The following is an exerpt from my friend Jobe's email home:
As important as the ANA mission is, the most important thing I will be working on here is something that fell into my lap almost as if it were fate. So, at the end of this email I’m going to ask everyone for a favor. One of my collateral duties here is to run the self help program for the ANA. Two days ago I found out that my foreman, Rahim, has a one and a half year old boy named Hibrahim, who was born with a congenial heart condition that is eerily similar to what my own son had. Of course, Jobe got his surgery when he was only eight days old, and today his cardiologist believes he may not need another surgery ever. Hibrahim is about a year and a half (Afghans don’t normally keep track of exact birthdays) and didn’t even have his condition diagnosed until this past February. When I saw Rahim after I found out about his son, I knew that I couldn’t live with myself, seeing him, talking to him, working with him, and getting to know him every day for a year, if I wasn’t doing everything in my power to help him. So, as a start, I wrote a short summary of Rahim and Hibrahim’s situation
(attached) and I plan on sending it to every humanitarian aid program, charity group, and pediatric cardiologist I can find. The favor I ask of you, because I won’t be able to find every possible lead on my own, is just to send it on to anyone you know that might have a contact or an even just an idea. The more people that see it, the better chances we have of finding someone who knows how to help. I’m not trying to start one of those chain letters, I’m just including this because there are programs out there, doctors without borders type stuff, and with some luck, one of you might have an inside contact that is able to get Hibrahim on a list for such a mission.Thanks everyone, and don’t feel bad if you don’t know anyone. I don’t really know anyone either so I’m just going to shotgun it all over the place until I get some good leads.
Take care!
-Jobe
-ATTACHMENT-
Abdul Rahim Amiri lives with his family in Mazir-e Sharif, Afghanistan, where for the past five years, he has worked as a carpenter on the Afghan National Army (ANA) installation Camp Shaheen, and directly for US forces for the last three. Rahim is a delightful, hard working man, and a loving father of two. Unfortunately, the youngest of Rahim’s children, a boy of about 17 months named Mohammad Hibrahim, was born with congenial heart disease. Soon after birth, he became cyanotic and, for many months, local doctors were unable to properly diagnose the problem. Rahim and his wife constantly monitor Hibrahim while he sleeps because he often turns completely blue and must be rushed to the local clinic. In February (2007), a group of US Navy service members, who are forward deployed at Camp Shaheen, gave Rahim money to take his son to the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul, in search of diagnosis and treatment. There, doctors diagnosed Hibrahim with atrial septal defect (ASD) and transposition of the great vessels. Although Hibrahim’s condition is correctable, Rahim was told that no surgeon in Afghanistan is capable of the procedure, and he was encouraged to stop spending his money because, without surgery, Hibrahim’s condition is terminal.
We are exploring every conceivable course of action in our efforts to help Rahim save his son. We ask that anyone having any ideas, recommendations, or who might wish to help in any way, please contact LT Jobe Galli at savehibrahim@earthlink.net.
I will add another exerpt tomorrow, or as soon as I can. I hope this finds you all well.
Michael
