Maine Community Works to Help Injured Iraqi Girl

Arundel, Maine – A community in Maine is working to raise money to bring an injured Iraqi girl to the United States for surgery. The 6-year-old was shot when a bullet fired by a U.S. soldier hit the car she was riding in. NECN’s Marnie MacLean has the story. [Click for video]
In her quiet backyard in Arundel, Maine Susi Eggenberger is a world away from the war in Iraq. Soon, she will see first hand the damage war can cause. Susi and others in her community are working to bring an injured Iraqi girl to Maine.

Susi: “It was something tangible I could do and I think I felt helpless the last few years in being able to do anything.”

Susi is working with an organization called ‘No More Victims’ that helps Iraqi children injured by American fire. Nora is one of those children.

Susi: “She’s 6-years-old and she was hit in the head by a bullet that penetrated through the roof of her car while driving with her family.”

The bullet shattered her skull. Nora has undergone four surgeries in Iraq…but there’s nothing more doctors in that country can do for her. She needs additional cranial surgery and a prosthetic skull. Now, Susi and others are trying to raise at least $12,000 to bring Nora and her father to Maine where she can get help.

Thankfully Susi Eggenberger won’t have to raise money for Nora’s surgery. Maine’s only pediatric nuerosurgeon, Dr. James Wilson has agreed to do the surgery for free.

And the Ronald McDonald house in Portland has agreed to let Nora and her father stay for free while she recovers from surgery, which could be several months.

Robin Chibroski, Executive Director of the Ronald McDonald House says, “the part for us is to be able to reach out and support this family. I can only imagine the nightmares they’ve been going through and the fears. By coming to the Ronald McDonald House they don’t have to worry about lodging and food.”

The $12,000 will pay travel costs and help Nora’s mother and sibling live while Nora and her father are in the U.S.

Susi: “I feel wonderful about the fact that the community will be able to be part of this and meet Nora and spend time with Nora and I think there will be a lot of healing on both sides because of that.”

Healing, and Susi hopes a way for people in Maine to connect with the war in Iraq…through the eyes of one young girl.

Categorised in: Children, Noora Afif

This post was written by Cole Miller