He likes to play basketball and soccer and to bang away on the toy keyboard. His heroes are Tom and Jerry. And if his mother would let him, he would change his name to "Pikachu." But the 46-pound 10-year-old hasn't had much of a childhood.
"Every other month we have been at the hospital for tests and treatments," said Nourhan Othman, an Iraqi widow who arrived in Charlottesville with her ailing son Yousef in late January.
Yousef was suffering from congenital heart disease or, in layman's terms, a hole in his heart. Neither his home town of Kirkuk in Northern Iraq, nor the hospital in Baghdad, a five-hour drive away, could provide him with the open-heart surgery he had been waiting for years to receive. He found the opportunity here at the University's hospital.
Nourhan's devotion to her son is clear. She refers to him mostly as "hayaty," or "my life," and recalls the day the family first discovered his condition.
"He was 2 months old and developed a persistent high fever," Nourhan said.
Doctors in Baghdad told her to wait until he was 2 years old to see if his condition would improve.
"It might close up as he grows," the doctors told her.
When, at age 5, Yousef's heart had not healed, he needed to be operated on by a specialist.
"If we were paying with private funds," Nourhan recalled, "they would have done the operation the next day."
But since this was a charity case, the doctors put her on a waiting list.Yousef waited four more years until a visiting American doctor told the doctors in Baghdad the operation had to be done soon. He referred them to an organization that might be able to help, but Nourhan missed the opportunity to file for aid that year.A year later, Nourhan was contacted by the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund. Nourhan knew nothing of the PCRF. Since the American doctor's recommendation, she had been applying to organizations in Europe, mostly in Italy, and was surprised when help came from a source that she had never pursued.
Huda Sosebee, Director of Social Work for the PCRF, said that Steve Sosebee, now her husband, began the organization when he was a journalist in Palestine in 1989. He saw how children there were being hurt by the violence and needed medical care that was unavailable to them in the region.
"He contacted doctors in the U.S. who might be willing to take on individual cases for free," Huda said. "He got a good response from doctors and hospitals."
They were all willing to help on the individual level. Steve also contacted the Arab community to fund the tickets and room and board while the children and their families were in the country.
"The doctors in Baghdad know us," Huda said. "And they know the work that we do. Through them, Yousef's case came to our attention."
Wherever doctors and hospitals are willing to help and where the Arab community is supportive, Middle Eastern children receive the medical attention they desperately need through PCRF. The University and its doctors are among those willing to volunteer their space and time to improve the lives of children. Pediatric cardiologist Scott Lim and pediatric cardiac surgeon Irving Kron took on Yousef's case without compensation.
There was renewed hope for the 10-year-old. He underwent numerous tests again, but this time the results were sent from Baghdad to the doctors in Charlottesville via the Internet.
Nourhan and Yousef arrived in Washington, D.C. in late December, where they were greeted by Haitham El-Obidi, an Iraqi living with his family in the D.C. area. On Jan. 17, El-Obidi drove them to Charlottesville where, for the first time, they met the doctors with whom they had been corresponding.The University paid for Yousef's room in the hospital and made arrangements with the local Ronald McDonald House to host them for the duration of their time in Charlottesville.
"Apparently that little box in McDonald's that you put money in really does something," fourth-year College student Farah Hussein said, smiling. Hussein is the president of the University's Arab Student Organization and was contacted to help with Nourhan and Yousef during their stay. She had received an e-mail from Rania Awwad, a University alumnus (CLAS '99) who serves as one of the PCRF board members. Awwad and Susan Kerin (CLAS '85) are co-founders of the D.C. chapter of PCRF. All of Awwad's work is voluntary, and she contacted Kron, ASO and the Muslim Student Association at the University in regards to Yousef's case. Awwad said several dozen volunteers from all levels of the University community came forward to help.
"Arabic is Nourhan's second language," Hussein said. "Turkmenian is her first."
Third-year College student Ahmed Almudallal, an Arabic speaker, served as the main translator during Yousef's time in the hospital. Almudallal also helped out by providing rides and checking up on Yousef and his mother to see if they needed anything.
Fourth-year Engineering student Per Midboe does not speak Arabic but became a close companion for Yousef and visited him and his mother daily, providing comfort and support. Many others from the University community gave their time to helping Nourhan and Yousef feel safe in a strange environment.
On Wednesday, Jan. 19 at 9 a.m., Almudallal and Hussein accompanied Nourhan and Yousef to the hospital. Yousef went through the final tests and preparations, leaving his mother in the waiting room. At 1:30 p.m., the doctors announced that Yousef was safely out of surgery.
Nourhan was so happy to see her son in good health that she kissed the doctor's hand.
"They were the most difficult days," Nourhan said, describing the difficulty of having to hand over her only son to doctors who were strangers and who did not speak her language.
"I was just thinking, 'Thank God, the operation is over,'" she said.
Yousef was in intensive care for two nights before his release on Saturday, Jan. 22. He spent the remainder of his time in Charlottesville hanging out with members of the ASO and MSA.
Hussein expressed her faith in the PCRF's humanitarian cause.
"There are many children seeking treatment," Hussein said. "PCRF is a worthy cause. It's not political; it's just about children, their health and human rights."
Ready to head home with Yousef after her son's successful operation, Nourhan was asked what one wish she would grant for Iraq and its people. She said she hopes for "peace and stability for all groups."
On March 23, Yousef will turn 11 -- the first birthday where his health will not be a major issue. He will complete follow-up tests in Baghdad in six months, and, in case of further medical needs, his mother has contact information for PCRF social workers.
Looking to the future, Yousef said he would like to become a surgeon.
"I'll send Mama on the pilgrimage to Mecca, get married, and give all my toys to my children," he said.
For the near future, his goals are also very clear.
"At school, my teacher never let me play with the other kids," Yousef said. "She always said I have a heart condition. I used to not play as much because my chest hurt, but, God willing, now I will get to play more."
Editor's Note: Laura Michael and Farah Hussein translated Nourhan Othman and her son Yousef 's dialogue from Arabic to English for the story.
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