Iraqi mom risked life to save baby's

02/3/08 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Iraqi mom risked life to save baby's

Doctor from Morristown aims to help child staying in Denville

BY ROB JENNINGS
DAILY RECORD
NEWARK -- The young mother from Iraq was looking intently at her doctor, awaiting an Arabic translation from her Denville host about the potentially fatal heart condition afflicting her 7-month-old son.

Dr. Joel T. Hardin of Morristown, director of cardiology at the Children's Hospital of New Jersey at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, offered a reassuring smile.

"Call me Dr. Joel," he said.

Upon hearing the doctor's recommendation of surgery to correct a congenital heart defect, the 20-year-old mother spoke in Arabic to Aref Assaf, a former Denville Rotary Club president who heads the Arab American Forum.

Assaf relayed her message -- "The faster you do the operation, the happier I will be" -- to the doctor.

With that, plans were made Tuesday to admit the infant, who had arrived in the U.S. six days earlier, to the Newark hospital. An operation was tentatively scheduled for this Wednesday.

In the meantime, while her newborn is receiving pro bono medical care at the hospital, the mother is anxiously waiting at Assaf's Denville residence.

Assaf said she was mostly keeping to the house.

"She does not want to leave at all. She is in a real culture shock. She comes from a remote village south of Baghdad," Assaf said.

Assaf described her decision to seek medical care in the U.S. as "heroic."

Risky treatment

Her husband, who works with a local police force, did not join her on the trip. Her trip was taken in secret because Iraqi civilians perceived as American sympathizers can be targeted for death. She asked the hospital not to publicize her name.

"The fear is that, if you receive aid, that somehow you are collaborating with the enemy, and some extremist may take revenge against the child," Assaf said.

Hardin, a former U.S. Navy medical corps commander stationed in Iraq for most of 2004, said that it is not uncommon for American physicians and hospitals to aid Iraqi newborns, free of charge. He said that, in addition to the humanitarian aspect, that such outreaches are crucial if a relationship with Iraq is ever to develop.

"People come to us, not just with their baby, but with their community and their government, looking to build a bridge that serves a greater purpose than just one baby," he said.

Troubling signs

Concerned about his chronic coughing and breathing difficulties, the mother brought her newborn, then 2 months old, to a medical facility in Iraq staffed by U.S. doctors.

Their preliminary diagnosis in Iraq -- tetralogy of fallot, a congenital heart defect -- required confirmation in a specialized hospital. The heart defect, which involves blockage of blood flow going to the lungs, occurs in about one in 2,000 births and is the most common form of heart defect.

After a series of phone calls, a referral was made to Hardin, who authorized providing medical care at the hospital in a Dec. 10 letter.

That led, more than five weeks later, to a long flight from Baghdad paid for by the Gift of Life of New Jersey Inc., a nonprofit group providing assistance to sick children. Upon arriving at Newark Liberty International Airport on Jan. 23, mother and son were picked up by Assaf.

Their first hospital appointment was Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Hardin asked the mother a series of questions about her family history. The baby, crying and coughing, underwent a series of tests that confirmed the tetralogy of fallot diagnosis.

Hardin began explaining the situation to the mother, with Assaf translating.

"The valve to the lungs is not only small, it didn't even form," he said.

"The blue blood and the red blood is mixing and going out to the body without picking up much oxygen. The only way blood is getting to his lungs is through very small branches that aren't shown here."

Hardin requested the mother's permission to hospitalize her son immediately, for tests and other treatment in advance of the surgery.

"I'd like to do it as soon as we can," she said of the operation.

"Me too," Hardin said.

It was not clear whether the baby would ever be told of the treatment he received in the U.S.

Assaf, who has housed other children from the Middle East in need of medical treatment, said the hope is that the care will have an impact on affecting attitudes.

"Hopefully, they will go back and remember the assistance received and will want to help others," Assaf said.

Rob Jennings can be reached at (973) 428-6667 or robjennings@gannett.com.