Brave Afghan girl survives insurgent attack

By Lieutenant (Navy) Alain Blondin

Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan — Marzya snuggles a large brown teddy bear as Canadian military nurses fuss over her in the intensive care unit at the Multinational Medical Unit (MMU). Major Raoul Vaidya, her orthopaedic surgeon, says that the operation he is getting ready to perform on her is only one of approximately 25 surgical procedures the pretty little Afghan girl will need before she can go home.

Marzya has lost her left leg above the knee, amputated because of injuries suffered in an insurgent attack on an Afghan National Police vehicle near her uncle’s shop on November 23. A rocket-propelled grenade missed the police vehicle and exploded near Marzya and her cousin as they were leaving the shop, where they had been working.

Marzya and her cousin were both seriously injured in the blast. A coalition medical helicopter brought both children from their village in the Panjwayii District to the MMU. There, Canadian trauma surgeon Colonel Ian Anderson “did everything he could possibly do to save Marzya’s leg,” said operating room nurse Captain Debbie Hynes of Kingston, Ontario. To no avail — her injuries were too severe, and the leg had to be amputated. Meanwhile, her cousin was treated and released from the hospital.

Brave little Marzya quickly became very popular among the hospital staff.

The Canadian-led MMU is a military field hospital specially equipped to provide trauma care to coalition soldiers injured in military operations. Because of the weapons and tactics typical of the Afghan insurgency, MMU staff are experts in treating blast injuries like Marzya’s.

Afghan patients are admitted to the MMU when they have life-threatening injuries and the facility has bed-space for them. Recently, more and more MMU beds are occupied by young Afghan victims of insurgent attacks. Capt Hynes said that, last year, the hospital saw an average of three children per month, while this year the number has climbed to 15. At one point in recent months, the nurse said, the ward was full of children.

“Children like Marzya are the future of Afghanistan,” said Brigadier-General Denis Thompson, commander of Task Force Kandahar. “The insurgents have repeatedly demonstrated a complete disregard for the innocents among the population. Their indiscriminate attacks have caused and continue to cause unnecessary misery for the people of Afghanistan.”

Despite the progress she has made in hospital, Marzya faces difficult challenges. Canadian civilian anaesthesiologist Dr Rick Zamora said that the medical team is now searching for a way to provide her with an adequate prosthesis.

General duty nurse Lieutenant Sophie Pelletier has spent a lot of time with Marzya over the last few weeks, and is deeply affected by the beautiful child. “She’s so smart and brave,” said Lt Pelletier, “we can’t help growing attached to her.” Her dearest hope is that Marzya will be able to regain her mobility, find a job and have the opportunity to be independent some day — a difficult task in light of the economic and cultural challenges she will surely face.

Yet the young girl has shown remarkable resilience so far. When asked how she can still smile so brilliantly in spite of her misfortune, Marzya replied, “I am tough.”

Lt(N) Al Blondin is a Public Affairs Officer at Joint Task Force Afghanistan Headquarters.