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PATIENT TESTIMonial : Abu Sliman
Abu Sliman is married and the father of six children. His wife is pregnant. He is 41 years old and lives in Mosul, about 400km north of Baghdad. His job? Abu Sliman used to use his car as a taxi. He was using it to go shopping on March 2, 2004, when he found himself in the crossfire of American forces and an armed militia. He has arrived in Jordan two and a half years later... “I realized the situation straight away when I saw armed men along the sides of the road. I immediately wanted to stop and park my car but there was a spray of gunfire and I was hit in the neck. The bullet came out through my lower lip. I also lost many teeth. In the accident, my head hit the windshield and my eye was hurt. I was alone in the car, but I was conscious. I called for help, but several vehicles passed by me without stopping. One driver finally came to my aid and drove me to the hospital quickly. I lost a lot of blood, and ten of my family members volunteered to donate blood so that I could have a transfusion. I stayed in the hospital for 40 days. I had to undergo six different operations, including one for my right eye. I still haven’t completely recovered my vision. For more than two years, there has not been a week gone by in which I have not returned to the hospital. Sometimes I even have to go every day. I can’t work anymore, so my brother is helping us out. In all, I spent over 6000 dollars for all the operations and treatments in a private hospital. I didn’t trust the public system. But my condition didn’t improve. Some doctors who were in contact with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) told me about the possibility of going to Amman for treatment. First, they asked me to come to Baghdad for a series of tests, and asked me for a photocopy of my passport. I was very worried at the idea of going to Baghdad. Nevertheless, I resigned myself to taking a taxi and went there and back in one day. A few days later, I returned at the request of the doctors, who put me up for one night in a hotel in the capital before taking the airplane. I was very scared about staying in Baghdad, and also about getting to the airport the next day. But, everything went smoothly. I landed in Amman on August 3, and was operated on twice in the fifteen days following my arrival. They took some bone from my hip in order to reconstruct my jaw bone. I feel like my condition is improving, but the doctors have told me that I need to stay here a little longer so that they can monitor the progress of my health. Obviously my family cannot join me here, so I’m really looking forward to seeing them again. I don’t know what I’ll do when I return. And I lost my car in this whole ordeal.” » Back to the Jordan / Iraq Project Profile index
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