Rusul’s Life-changing Steps

A news crew captures young Rusul’s first steps on a new prosthetic leg. Rusul’s foot was badly mangled in an American missile strike that killed her brother and blew off both of her sister’s legs. NMV brought Rusul to Shriners Hospital in Greenville, SC for injuries caused by US forces in Iraq. A missile strike destroyed her ankle and foot, and she needed an amputation and prosthetics services. That same strike killed her cousin, blew off her sister’s legs and scattered the body parts of a little girl named Mabruk all over the ground.

The family fled to Fallujah. They were denied entry for 30 minutes due to a curfew imposed on the city by occupation forces. Someone with a semblance of a conscience relented, and they were permitted to enter Fallujah so the children could get emergency treatment. We learned about her case, and brought her to Greenville for treatment out of a recognition of our shared responsibility for innocent victims on the receiving end of US aggression. As the war comes home, and American police forces are militarized and trained in tactics gleaned from years of brutality abroad, it is our duty to pay attention even on the narrow grounds of self-interest.

Categorised in: Children, Rusul Jalal

This post was written by Cole Miller