Afghan family treated for burns by Bagram medics

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Michael Voss
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) --  Air Force health professionals train continuously, from medical school to retirement, to provide life-saving treatments to patients. In most cases, they count on providing those treatments to service members, but Airmen assigned to the Craig Joint Theater Hospital here are finding themselves working to save an Afghan family.

For nearly two weeks the hospital's staff has worked around the clock to save the lives of Ghulam Hazrat, his 2-year-old daughter Satara and 1-year-old grandson Ajamal.

Around 6 p.m. Dec. 24, Ghulam Hazrat's family and friends were spending time together talking about the day's events, but as the women worked to prepare the family's dinner, the propane tank used to heat the home caught fire and exploded. Within minutes, the entire house was completely destroyed, killing two including Ghulam's wife.  In addition, six others including Ghulam and five children suffered life-threatening injuries.

Overwhelmed by the extent of the injuries, local Nijrab Hospital officials looked to the area's most technologically advanced medical facility for help. By nightfall, three trauma beds at CJTH were occupied with surgeons and medics working tirelessly on Mr. Hazrat, who experienced third-degree burns to his hands. His daughter, Satara, and his grandson, Ajamal, both received severe burns to the face, legs and feet.

Today, thanks to the countless hours of caring for burns and more than six hours of surgeries for multiple skin grafts, they are beginning the long road to recovery.

"I have seen burns before, but it's always hard when it happens to babies," said Staff Sgt. Dequijamin Roberson, a 455th Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron medic. "There's really nothing you can do to get over the shock of seeing it, whether it is children caught in the cross-fire or accidents like this.  It is the reality of where we are. We just focus on doing what we are trained to do."

Many staff members at CJTH develop bonds with their patients, and Ajamal and Satara are no exception.

"This is the reason I joined," said Senior Airman Mabel Aguirre, a 455th EMOS medic. "I almost cried tears of joy when I got my tasking letter. I love waking up and coming here every day. Obviously, it bothers you to see patients in pain. We try not to focus on that. Just like with the U.S. service member amputees we see here; if I focus on what caused them to be here it would kill me, but I focus on the progress we make for them. You see the differences in their behavior as they get better."

As Satara clings to her father, now an outpatient here, and Ajamal passes the time coloring and being held by medical staff members, the Airmen prepare the family for their final procedures before they leave to go home.

"Satara is going to have follow-up surgery . . . to check on her skin grafts, but now most of the life-saving procedures are behind us," Sergeant Roberson said. "Now we only have cosmetic stuff to try to give them back their natural look, or as close as we can." 

Thanks to the efforts of medical staff at the hospital, these three patients, who probably would have died from their wounds, should be able to be discharged soon to return to their lives.

Today, as the head nurse picks up the doctor's orders for discharge and Mr. Hazrat calls for ride home, the future is uncertain for the family. And staff members said the sting of not seeing them everyday has begun to set in. 

"Will it sting when they leave? Of course," Airman Aguirre said. "When I first got here, Satara had dressing all over her legs, now she can walk across the room.

"When they go home you never forget them, you are reminded all the time whether it's a toy or a spot where they were sitting," said Airman Aguirre, the medic who has spent enough time with Ajamal to be able to identify why he cries, whether for food, pain or to be held. "It's how much you have impacted their lives.  Giving them a chance makes all the sacrifice worth it."