MK’s Views - Down under on the right side

MNF-Iraq - He’s 16 years old, and only weighs 60 pounds. Marwan Ahmad Mohammed doesn’t spend his days like most teenage boys. He stays in military care facilities where they constantly work to repair his wounds sustained in an attack from more than a year ago.

His brother, Omar Ahmad Mohammed, has been camping out next to his bedside during his current stay at Camp Al Asad’s 325th Combat Support Hospital where medical providers have been giving him all the medical attention he needs.

“His smile says a lot,” said Army Capt. Lonnie R. Buatte, a critical care nurse at the Intensive Care Unit at 325th CSH. “We’re waiting for our little buddy to come back,” he said affectionately, while the boy was going through another surgery at the hospital.

His current surgery involved cleaning his wounds and placing suction vacuum dressings on his internal wounds to help clear the build-up that has developed. Marwan was injured in a mortar attack last January. This left him paralyzed, but he still is able to move his left arm and head. Due to his injuries, he also lost a lung.

His brother was working as an Iraqi policeman at Camp Habbaniyah when he sought further treatment for Marwan, whose condition was getting worse. This eventually took them to Camp Al Asad, where service members have been doing their best to get him the care he needs.

“Those of us who are here are interested in helping everyone we can, as much as possible,” said Army Col. Robert P. Stanton, the Chief of Surgery for 325th CSH. “At this particular point in time and in this location in Iraq, the casualty rate from insurgent activity is low so that allows us to help the civilians, Iraqi Police and Iraqi military members,” said Stanton, from Pensacola, Fla.

Marwan appreciates the help he is getting from the coalition forces. “He’s got a really positive attitude and is never afraid to ask questions, staying active in his care,” explained Buatte. The care the hospital is providing to the Iraqi people is not limited to Marwan’s particular case.

“The tradition our country has, especially in theatre, is that we always intercede to save life, limb, or eyesight,” explained Col. Walter B. Franz, the Deputy Commander of Clinical Services at the Hospital. “Our people here have a real calling and commitment (to the patients),” explained Franz, from Rochester, Minn., “We couldn’t be more proud of the hospital’s ability to take care of this case or anyone that comes in.”