Special Operations, Coalition forces give Afghan child a second chance at life

Published Jan. 4, 2009
By U.S. Forces Afghanistan

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Shair Ahmad and his wife were living a parents' worst nightmare. Their young son, Hamid, was desperately ill and Ahmad, a farmer from the Farah province, did not have the means to pay local doctors for his care.

At first, things had looked up for Hamid after his father was able to raise the money for one surgery at a hospital in Herat. Doctors removed a giant tumor protruding from the child's left eye, and he did quite well for a few months. Sadly, over the next eight months, the mass returned and continued to grow exponentially.

Ahmad and Hamid, who is thought to be five or six years old, traveled to hospitals from Farah to Herat to Kabul, and even to Pakistan, but with limited money their efforts were mostly futile.

Finally, over a year after Hamid's plight began, his father brought him to see U.S. troops at a Special Operations Forces clinic in Farah. The SOF clinic had referred a number of suffering Afghans to Bagram Airfield doctors, and they believed Hamid's case was one that definitely warranted more extensive care.

"Our team in Farah sent us pictures of Hamid, which we evaluated and then passed along to Task Force MED. Their ophthalmologist and head and neck surgeon agreed to see and evaluate the boy," said Army Dr. (Lt. Col.) Andrew Landers, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-Afghanistan surgeon.

Shortly thereafter, the Farah Provincial Reconstruction Team arranged a flight to bring Ahmad and Hamid to Bagram Airfield to meet with the doctors.

"A CT (computer tomography) scan revealed that Hamid had a noninvasive tumor of the eye, meaning the tumor had not yet invaded the skull. The tumor hadn't reached his brain at that point, but the growth would have continued to progress had it not been removed," Landers explained.

Medically speaking, Hamid was suffering from rhabdomyosarcoma, a fast-growing, malignant tumor.

Hamid underwent surgery on Dec. 26, in the care of Air Force Dr. (Maj.) Brian Moore, a head and neck surgical oncologist assigned to TF MED. Moore and his team removed the tumor to the base of the skull and performed facial reconstruction.

"The surgery went extremely well; Hamid is healing without complication and he should be able to return to Farah shortly," Moore said. Hamid is expected to have recovered in six-to-eight weeks and to return to Bagram to be fitted for a prosthetic eye.
Although the boy has hurdled one major obstacle, his future is still paved with uncertainty. Both Landers and Moore agree that follow-up care is imperative to Hamid's long-term survival.

The removed tumor was sent to Germany for further examination, and the results will help determine exactly what kind of supplementary treatment Hamid will need to have.

Arrangements could possibly be made to send Hamid to Pakistan for chemotherapy or radiation treatment, Moore said.

Without the additional care, the tumor may very well reappear. For now, however, Moore says he is thankful to have the opportunity to improve Hamid's current quality of life.

"It is fortunate that the right people and the right technology were available to help Hamid. We were able to lend a hand when nobody else could. We don't ask for anything in return; we cared for this young boy simply because it was the right thing to do," Moore said.

"I also hope others will take notice of the way we've treated Hamid. If people see the lengths we are willing to go at the individual level it will help inspire confidence in Americans at the global level," he added.

The care his son received meant the world to Ahmad, who openly expressed his satisfaction with the U.S. service members who have given Hamid a brighter future.

"I cannot say 'thank you' enough. For over a year I have worried constantly about my son, believing there was nothing that could be done for him. Now Hamid is not in pain and the tumor is gone. I am grateful to the U.S. doctors," Ahmad said.

For his part, Hamid says little, but smiles shyly at visitors to his hospital room. He whispers to his father that he is looking forward to going home, where his mother, six brothers and two sisters are eagerly awaiting his return.