Ali Ismail Abbas (born 1991) is an
Iraqi boy who was severely injured in a nighttime rocket attack near
Baghdad during the
United States invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Injury
During the attack, two American missiles landed on his family's home, killing his parents (whose mother was still pregnant with another child at the time), his brother and 13 other members of his family. Both of Ali's arms had to be
amputated and
third-degree burns covered at least 35 percent of his body. He was 12 years old at the time.Ali underwent treatment in
Kuwait and later in
London, where he was fitted with robotic prosthetic arms, paid for by the
Kuwaiti government. He no longer uses the arms, having found them too heavy and unwieldy, although he wears artificial arms while attending school so as not to draw attention to himself.In 2004, a book –
The Ali Abbas Story – was written about Ali by
Jane Warren and published by
Harper Collins.He is currently attending the
Hall School Wimbledon, an independent school in
Wimbledon, London, England. He has learned to speak English, and to write and paint with his feet. He has written and published a children's book.He was featured on the
60 Minutes television news program on May 13, 2007.
Limbless Association
The
Limbless Association was driven by the substantial public response to the plight of the then 12-year-old Ali Ismail Abbas. LA set up a restricted fund to assist those rendered amputees by the Iraq conflict.It was during a visit to Iraq that...
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