By Howard Koplowitz
Hayder Obaid Mia, 4, of Baghdad, and 2-year-old Noorul Huda Hayder of Najaf, were born with fairly common congenital heart defects resulting in holes in their hearts. If the defects had not been repaired, they could have led to a shortened lifespan.”They can't wait to go home. They're happy,” said Hayder's mother, Sabeha Hawi, and Noorul's grandmother, Haseena Haddad, through an interpreter.The children were unable to obtain the care they needed in Iraq, according to Dr. Philip Lanzkowsky, the chief of staff at Schneider.”In this tumultuous time in the world… it is wonderful for us to stand on this occasion,” Lanzkowsky said, adding that Hayder and Noorul were expected to lead healthy lives following their surgeries.Their operations were performed pro bono by two Schneider surgeons, according to an LIJ spokeswoman. The Syosset High School Interact Club, a junior Rotary Club, raised $15,000 last year for the Iraqis' transportation, she said.Hayder and Noorul were brought to Schneider through Sgt. Marikay Satryano, a member of the U.S. Army Reserves working in Jordan.Satryano said she learned of the children through her colleagues at the Iraqi Assistance Center in Baghdad. Schneider's decided which children to operate on, she said.She said it was not the surgeries, but the two-hour trek from Iraq to Jordan, which was the most difficult part in the two children's journeys.”It's very dangerous,” Satryano said. “One quick look at the map and you realize you have to cross the al-Anbar province,” an area known as the most violent in Iraq. But the children will head home on a plane.Dr. Dipok Kholwadwala, a pediatric cardiologist at Schneider's, said the children suffered from a common congenital heart defect. Hayder had a large hole in his heart and his blood vessels were blocked. “He came to us pretty blue,” Kholwadwala said of the 4-year-old, noting that his oxygen level was at 75 to 80 percent. “The boy was heading towards trouble.”Noorul was also born with a hole in her heart but had too much blood going through her lungs Ð the opposite problem Hayder encountered.Lankowsky noted that the successful surgeries were performed close to the Muslim holiday of Eid, which marks the end of the Hajj, the pilgrimage to Mecca.”It's wonderful that we can participate in this holiday and really give (Hayder and Noorul) a gift of life,” he said.Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 173.
