Yazidi boy recovering from surgery in Israel, father worried about family in Iraq

Save a Child’s Heart organization operated on the 17-month-old boy at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Yazidi child Wasim (photo credit: PR)
Yazidi child Wasim
(photo credit: PR)
The father of a Yazidi child who underwent lifesaving heart surgery on Sunday at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon said he is worried about his wife and newborn twins left behind in Iraq.
Wisam – born in the north of Iraq 17 months ago with life-threatening congenital defects – was operated on successfully by Dr. Lior Sasson, who performed the surgery pro bono for the hospital’s Save a Child’s Heart organization.
The boy and his father, Abu Wisam, left their hometown of Sinjar months ago to undergo tests and prepare for the operation.
But in the meantime, while running to safe rooms as Hamas hurled rockets at Israel, the Iraqi father was worried about his family, caught up in the recent conflict in Iraq, who are among the 200,000 Yazidi families who ran to the mountains of Mount Sinjar to escape the Islamic State.
He said he is desperately waiting to hear from them, while watching over Wisam as he recovers from his seven-hour operation.
Save a Child’s Heart saves lives of thousands of children regardless of race, religion, gender, nationality or financial status. Every Tuesday there is an open clinic at the Wolfson Medical Center for Palestinian children from the West Bank and Gaza who come for check-ups or to be admitted for heart surgery.
Despite the rockets, on Tuesday, Gaza children are expected to return to the clinic for the first time in three weeks.