USA: FOUR YEAR OLD IRAQI GIRL RECOVERS FROM LIFESAVING HEART SURGERY AND HELP FROM INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S PROJECT

Record ID: 584900

  • Title: USA: FOUR YEAR OLD IRAQI GIRL RECOVERS FROM LIFESAVING HEART SURGERY AND HELP FROM INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S PROJECT
  • Date: 24th June 2004
  • Summary: (W8) NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2004) (REUTERS) 1. SLV MOTHER NAJUA HUSSEIN AND DAUGHTER DRAA HUSSEIN WALKING IN THE HOUSE 0.06 2. WIDE OF DRAA AND NAJUA PLAYING 0.12 3. SCU DRAA SAYING "HI" TO CAMERA AND WAVING 0.22 4. SCU SOUNDBITE (Arabic) NAJUA SAYING: "The fear is gone. I am very, very happy and thankful to God that allowed my daughter to have this operation performed." 0.42 (W8) NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT) (REUTERS) 5. VARIOUS OF DRAA'S HEART SURGERY OPERATION 1.05 6. SLV DRAA BEING TAKEN OUT THE OPERATION ROOM 1.13 (W8) NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (JUNE 24, 2004) (REUTERS) 7. VARIOUS STILL PHOTOS OF U.S. SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON VISITING DRAA IN THE HOSPITAL 1.23 8. WIDE OF DRAA AND NAJUA PLAYING 1.26 9. SCU SOUNDBITE (Arabic) NAJUA SAYING: "I am extremely happy to be here with the family. I love them and they love me, and I feel as though I'm with my own family." 1.38 10. VARIOUS OF DRAA PLAYING WITH HOST FAMILY'S DAUGHTER ALICIA SCHTAKLESS 1.45 11. SLV THE HOST JOY SCHTAKLESS WITH DRAA AND NAJUA 1.50 12. SCU SOUNDBITE (English) JOY SCHTAKLESS SAYING: "We don't speak the same language, but love is universal. God's love through us can just be miraculous. You can give a hug and she knows that it is sincere, you know, that we really care about her and her daughter." 2.06 13. SCU DRAA LAUGHING WITH HER MOTHER AND JOY 2.19 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 9th July 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK USA
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAABMYIF913MJW74C108I7GWXKQ
  • Story Text: Four-year-old Iraqi girl recovering well from
    life-saving heart surgery in New York.




    Just one week after Draa Hussein underwent open
    heart surgery, the four-year-old Iraqi girl is recovering
    well in a host New York City home.

    Draa, who was born with a life-threatening congenital
    heart defect, arrived in the United States on June 11 with
    her mother Najua. She could at any time have died from lack
    of oxygen as she had to gasp for breath while just moving
    about normally.

    The mother and daughter, who are staying with a
    five-member family in their Astoria, Queens home, now have
    beaming smiles back on their faces. The doctors have
    assured them that all of Draa's heart abnormalities have
    been successfully repaired.

    "The fear is gone. I am very, very happy and thankful to
    God that allowed my daughter to have this operation
    performed," she Najua, holding Draa in her arms.

    The operation, which took over five hours to perform,
    was conducted by Dr. Stephen B. Colvin, Chief of
    Cardiothoracic Surgery at NYU hospital and co-founder of
    Project Kids Worldwide, a non-profit organization that
    arranged for Draa's surgery. The money for the $35,000
    operation was donated by Michael Rienzi, the president of a
    New York-based Rienzi & Sons Inc., a pasta manufacturer.

    Draa's plight drew the attention of Senator Hillary
    Clinton who visited the young girl in the hospital last
    week.

    Drab's type of surgery, considered to be a relatively
    normal procedure in the United States, is yet to be fully
    developed in Iraq.

    Her surgery is the first step in developing an ongoing
    relationship between Project Kids Worldwide and the Iraqi
    medical community. Plans are also being made to send
    portable diagnostic equipment to Iraq, though a visiting
    Iraqi cardiologist in July.

    Joy Schtakless, along with her husband and three
    daughters, welcomed Najua and Draa to their family home.

    Joy thanked a higher authority for Draa's recovery.

    "We don't speak the same language, but love is
    universal. God's love through us just can be miraculous. We
    give her a hug and she knows that it is sincere. We care
    about her and her daughter," said Joy.

    Only a week after her surgery, Draa seems to enjoy the
    new environment very much, playing with toys and the host
    family's children. One of Joy's children, Alisha
    Schtakless, happens to be of Draa's age.

    "I am extremely happy to be here with the family. I love
    them and they love me, and I feel as though I'm with my own
    family," said Najua.

    Doctors will monitor Draa's recovery for about six
    weeks, and if all goes well Najua and her daughter will
    return to Baghdad and her husband and two-year-old
    daughter, who are anxiously waiting her return.



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