Iraqi Boy Arriving at Shriners Hospital for Children, Portland

Iraqi Boy In Oregon For Medical Care

By Kristian Foden-Vencil Portland, OR September 8, 2008 3:24 a.m.

A six-year-old Iraqi boy, who lost a leg in a U.S. missile attack four years ago, is scheduled arrive in Oregon Tuesday. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.


Mustafa Abed and his mom were returning from a visit to a medical clinic near Fallujah, when they were caught in the attack.

Since then, Mustafa’s injuries mean he needs a colostomy bag and he has no leg from the hip down.

Ned Rosch, of the charity ‘No More Victims,’ says the group wants to both help Mustafa and put a human face on the Iraq war.

Ned Rosch: “90 percent of the hospitals are without supplies. Many of the doctors have fled or been murdered. So the health situation is dire in Iraq. For four years now he’s needed help that he just can’t get.”

Shriners Hospital and local doctors and nurses are volunteering to fit Mustafa with a prosthetic leg -- and to perform diagnostic surgeries to see if the colostomy can be reversed.