Iraqi Child To Receive Specialist Treatment In London

I’m writing about this case because it proves that there are still some generous people in the world.

Shams Karim, 3, was caught in a car bomb explosion at home in Baghdad two years ago. It killed her mother and left Shams badly disfigured and without any eyesight.

Now, thanks to generous donations from Sunday Times readers and the personal efforts of its Middle East correspondent Hala Jaber, Shams is to be given the best treatment possible at Moorfields Eye Hospital and Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Doctors at both hospitals are waiving their fees for treating Shams, who is having her first examinations on Monday and may undergo some initial surgery on her eyelids later in the week.

The doctors have already cautioned that miracles should not be expected.

Shams’ left eye is completely gone, leaving only a gash that still looks raw although it is two years on.

Her right eye is sealed shut. There is thought to be an outside chance that a small amount of sight might be restored, but that will not be clear until tests are done.

But doctors are confident that reconstructive and cosmetic surgery can at least restore Shams’ looks, and she could be given prosthetic eyes.

A generous Iraqi Foreign Ministry official has lent the family his apartment in London during Shams’ treatment, which will see her coming and going for months while multiple operations are carried out.

The Iraqi embassy has offered to help her father and his aunt find their way in a city where they are bound to feel bewildered.

We must not forget that,  in Iraq and in Afghanistan, there are many other children and families who have been left in similar situations by the wars in their countries. They will never be as lucky as Shams and her family have been. But this story proves to me that, once in a while, something really good can come out of what might seem, to most of us who watch it from the comfort of our homes, to be endless media coverage of war. There is a point to it after all.

Of course I wish Shams the best possible results from her treatment.