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Young Afghan heart patient returns home

  • Published
  • By Maj. David Kurle
  • 455 AEW public affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  An Air Force C-17 cargo plane carried a young boy here recovering from desperately needed heart surgery who will know that his future was made possible by the efforts of the U.S. military.

Most aircraft arriving here bring the supplies needed to sustain U.S. military forces endeavoring to ensure a decent future for Afghanistan, but on July 2 an Air Force Reserve Command aircraft call-signed Reach-262 delivered hope.

On board the C-17 flight from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, was Omar Muhammed, who left here aboard another Air Force plane in May, bound for Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He suffered from a heart defect that seriously lessened the chances he would see adulthood.

"This is a birth defect that is normally fixed within the first year of birth," said Capt. Kristen Zebrowski, a flight nurse with the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Ramstein. She attended to Omar on his return flight to Afghanistan.

But nothing in Afghanistan occurs "normally."

More than one year ago, Omar's father, Fathi, brought his sick child to Forward Operating Base Salerno, where U.S. Army physician Maj. Sloane Guy diagnosed the heart problem, which prevented an adequate supply of oxygenated blood to Omar's small body.

After securing sponsorship, finding a doctor to perform the needed surgery to correct Omar's condition and arranging transportation, which had to be approved by the Secretary of Defense, Omar and his father were flown to the United States.

Reach-262, a C-17 from March Air Reserve Base, Calif., closed the loop on Omar's journey.

"He was definitely jovial and in good spirits," Captain Zebrowski said. "I think he definitely developed a liking to some American things like Pepsi and chips."

The flight crew of Reach-262, a mix of Air Force Reserve and active-duty Airmen from three different bases, welcomed the change from their usual mission of hauling cargo and troops.

"Cargo is important … but to carry someone who's injured and return them home is priceless," said Tech. Sgt. Alec McGuyer, the flight loadmaster from the Reserve's 317th Airlift Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. "We're helping this Afghan family."

The flight crew and medical crew alike were charmed by the boy during the flight from Ramstein.

"He eats like a healthy little boy," said Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Weir, a flight medic deployed to Ramstein from the Reserve's 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell AFB, Ala. "I was running out of apples for that kid."

When Staff Sgt. Kevin Allen, an 86th AES flight medic, flies on missions, he is usually bringing wounded people out of Afghanistan.

"It was surprising when I went in the crew brief and they said we had a patient going back," he said. "I have children, and it stirs my heart that we were able to give care to this child."

Captain Zebrowski wondered if she would ever know the eventual ending of Omar's journey.

"It's great that we were able to get him the care he needed," she said. "You just kind of wonder what's going to happen to him here; I would just like to know how he's doing."