Posted on July 14, 2016

Iraqi boy injured in missile attack returns to Mary Free Bed for new prosthesis

On April 28, 2008, just before his fifth birthday, Hamzah Al-Daeni was playing in his yard in Baghdad, Iraq, when a U.S. missile struck nearby. He was hit by shrapnel and injured so severely that he lost part of his stomach and his right leg had to be amputated.

Hamzah Al-DaeniTwo years later, traveling with his father, Hamzah came to Grand Rapids for medical treatment and was fitted with a prosthetic leg. Healing Children of Conflict, a local nonprofit organization, arranged each of the trips and worked with Mary Free Bed to provide Hamzah with expert care.

Hamzah has returned to Grand Rapids twice since then, most recently in June, to be fitted for a new prosthetic to better support his growing body. In the video posted above, he and his father, Imad, express their thanks and talk about their hopes for the future.