Local Hospital Aids Palestinian Teen Injured In Mideast Violence
Updated 02/09/11 - 04:29 p.m.
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- A Palestinian teenager could be going home soon, after a Chicago-area hospital donated its services to treat her for a severe head wound she suffered in the Gaza war two years ago.
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Two weeks after 15 year old Nojoud Basal underwent surgery at Advocate Christ Hospital in Oak Lawn, her doctor thinks she's well enough to head home soon.
Her host mother and translator, Rania Sadeq, said "A good size of her skull was missing when she came to the U.S. It wasn't there."
As CBS 2's Suzanne Le Mignot reports, Nojoud said she is "very happy to have been able to go through the surgery and be a success."
Nojoud was brought here by the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund with a three-inch hole that had been blown into her skull by an exploding shell. Doctors in her homeland did what they could in 2009.
"She was stitched up without anesthesia in her head" Sadeq said.
Pediatric neurosurgeon Yoon Hahn says Nojoud made a remarkable recovery from the damage to her brain. He helped her appearance by surgically reconstructing her skull.
Dr. Hahn, the staff at Advocate Hope Children's Hospital and the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund all covered the costs of Nojoud's medical expenses.
Hahn performed the surgery to close the opening in Nojoud's skull using titanium mesh and de-mineralized bone.
"So it can grow into the normal bone, so that will eventually reconstitute the whole skull," Hahn said.
Basal suffered partial paralysis on her left side. She had to relearn how to walk. Her experience has shaped her future.
"She would like to become a doctor and treat the wounded or nursing," Sadeq said, "To treat patients, better than she was treated."
While she continues her recovery, she has one more hurdle to overcome. The only way Basal can get back to her homeland is through Egypt. With the unrest continuing there, she must now wait until it's safe, to be reunited with her family.
Dr. Hahn worries about the quality of follow-up care for Nojoud once she's back in Gaza, but he's optimistic about her prognosis.
"She's a fighter and she is going to make it," Hahn said.
