Iraqi orphan 'doing okay' after burns surgery

The plastic surgeon treating injured Iraqi orphan Ali Ismaeel Abbas tonight said the youngster was recovering well after his first round of life-saving treatment.

The critically ill 12-year-old lost both his arms and suffered horrific burns after his house was destroyed in the Allied bombing of Baghdad. Sixteen members of his family were killed in the raids on the Iraqi capital.

His desperate plight touched millions of people around the world and he was airlifted to Kuwait after a direct appeal from medics in Iraq.

Dr Imad Najada, of the Saud A Albabtain Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery, said Ali spent one hour and 15 minutes under the knife this afternoon.

Septicaemia infected tissue was cut away from his burn wounds – a process known as debridement.

A temporary layer of human skin, from the clinic’s skin bank, was also laid across his burns to form a temporary cover.

“He’s doing well. He’s awake and we’re changing his dressing. He’s recovering. He will be okay,” Dr Najada told PA News.

“We cut off all his dead skin. It’s a strategy for cleaning – removing all the dead tissue.”

He added that he hoped to perform a graft using Ali’s own skin from uninjured areas such as his back on Sunday or Monday.

“At the centre for burns we receive worse cases. We have good success with people who are 80 or 90% burnt. Ali has around 35% burns,” he said.

Dr Najada said it could be three weeks or more before measurements are taken to provide Ali with artificial limbs.

Ali is being given large amounts of antibiotics and pain relievers, as well as fluids to combat his dehydration.

He is accompanied by his uncle Mohammed al-Sultany – one of his only surviving relatives.

His horrific injuries marked him out as a symbol of the innocent suffering caused by the war in Iraq and thousands of pounds have been raised by appeals to pay for his care.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush were warned that Ali would not survive if he remained in the primitive conditions of a Baghdad hospital short on drugs and clean water.

Dr Mohammad Khalaf, senior consultant at the clinic, said that today’s treatment was vitally important.

“It’s not a dangerous operation. We do it daily but for his case it is dangerous, but he will die without this operation.”

Ministry of Health spokesman in Kuwait, Dr Ahmad Al Shatti, said: “Don’t worry. He’s in safe hands now.

“He’s been smiling. I think he’s in good shape. With love and tender care, his morale will be boosted.”

The burns centre – the best in the Middle East – is treating a number of other Iraqi children suffering from war injuries.

As Ali arrived at the clinic, he was carried off an ambulance on a stretcher, wearing a green shower cap. He blinked at flashing cameras before being taken into the hospital.

Pushed through the hospital on a stretcher to waiting doctors, he was pursued by camera crews and photographers.

Inside the centre, Ali cried out in pain as he was carried into a lift and on into the intensive care treatment room.

He continued to scream as doctors cautiously lifted his T-shirt to examine his burns and as medics inserted intravenous needles into what was left of his arms.