9:08pm Sunday 3rd August 2003
By Gavin McGregor
The Iraqi orphan who lost both arms in a devastating missile attack on Baghdad is to be fitted with prosthetic arms in Wandsworth.
Ali Ismail Abbas, now 13, had to cope not only with amputation and severe burns, but also the death of his father, pregnant mother, brother and six other relatives in the April missile attack that destroyed his home.
Images of Ali shocked the world, and his chances of survival were almost written off by doctors as he lay in a hospital in the Saddam City slum quarter of Baghdad. Ali himself once told doctors: “If I cannot get a pair of hands, I will commit suicide.” But now the Limbless Association is to bring Ali, and another teenage Iraqi amputee, Ahmad Hanza, to the specialist prosthetics clinic in Roehampton for treatment.
Chief executive Diana Morgan said Ali now sounded “very, very cheerful, and happy to be coming to England”.
The charity has raised £275,000 for the Ali Fund, thanks to a flood of public donations.
But if the Kuwaiti Government decides to pay for Ali’s treatment Ms Morgan said the funds would help “to re-establish rehabilitation places that have been severely looted in Baghdad, so many other amputees can be helped”.
Ahmad, 15, lost a hand and part of a leg, while Ali had one arm amputated just above the elbow and the other closer to the shoulder.
But the pair will be in the hands of experts at Roehampton, with rehabilitation consultant Dr Sellaiah Soori, senior prosthetist Nick Hillsdon and senior occupational therapist Fiona Carnegie, who specialises in upper arm amputees, in charge of treatment.
Meanwhile, the Limbless Association will do everything to make Ali’s stay – which could be as long as six months – as comfortable as possible.
It will provide tutoring and English lessons so that Ali’s education does not fall behind, as well as private accommodation outside the clinic – and the boys could get the chance to take in the sights of London.
Asked about the irony of Ali being treated in one of the countries responsible for the missile attack that turned his world upside down, Ms Morgan said: “He is aware of the incredible support that the British public has shown him.” She described Ali, a big fan of Real Madrid’s Luis Figo, as “absolutely charming, sweet, very polite and very bright”.
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