MONI BASU: Life, for a disabled child, is not easy anywhere.
But in the middle of a war zone, it was going
to be particularly difficult.
In 2005, I was embedded with a US Army unit.
One night, this particular unit raided a house.
An Iraqi woman brought out a baby.
The baby's name was Noor, and she
had been born with a severe form of spina bifida.
[music playing]
[non-english speech]
MONI BASU: But then she went back to Iraq.
And, really, the trouble for Noor and her family began then.
She should have been seeing a neurosurgeon every year.
But in Iraq, a lot of the doctors,
especially specialists, had fled the country.
[non-english speech]
[horn honks]
- Every time I see Noor, quite a few years have gone by.
And I'm always amazed by how that little baby--
who everyone said would not make it--
has blossomed into a beautiful young girl.
She had to have her head shaved before the surgery.
And she thought she was going to a salon.
But instead we took her to a barber shop.
[interposing voices]
[non-english speech]
[squeal]
[beeping]
- There was a swelling along the shunt.
And it would discharge again.
So we removed Noor's shunt.
[non-english speech]
PETER SSENYONGA: I do not think Noor will walk.
That does not mean Noor cannot actually live her
life to the fullest potential.
MONI BASU: Noor holds onto this hope that she is going to walk.
And I think her family has allowed her to hope and dream,
because it's what keeps her going.
[non-english speech]
MONI BASU: The only reason he does anything in life
is to make sure that his only daughter
has a chance at happiness.