MY NEPHEW, JEFF LUDLOW, IN IRAQ — SERIOUS THOUGHTS
This is an unpublished article written last week by a military corespondent. It will appear in several publications, but you get it first.
Compassion from a Combat Medic to an Iraqi Child
By 2nd Lt. Liz Lopez
The most important quality a combat medic can possess is compassion. By the very nature of their jobs, these men and women not only witness, but participate in some of combat’s most heart-wrenching stories. But, a patient’s well-being is always foremost in their concern.
Late on the day of June 21, the normally quiet Yusufiyah Aid Station suddenly erupted into chaos as eight casualties from a nearby mortar attach were brought in.
Among the wounded were seven Iraqi children ranging in age from three to twelve.
That evening, Sgt. William Ludlow of Fort Smith, Ark., a combat medic from Company C, 210th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), was responsible for the care of a six-year-old girl named Tebarek.
Initial triage showed Tebarek’s left leg and abdominal injuries were severe enough to warrant immediate evacuation to the 28th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad’s Green Zone. After loading her on a flight bound for the hospital, it would not have been unusual if Ludlow never saw the girl again. But, for Ludlow and Tebarek, this fate was not to be.
Little more than a week after the mass casualty event, the Iraqi Army senior medic in Yusufiyah requested Ludlow’s presence in his aid station in order to examine a patient’s wounds. Upon entering the building, Ludlow recalls only his surprise at seeing “this little helpless girl laying there on the litter.”
Almost immediately, he recognized Tebarek, who after being released from both the 28th CSH and the Iraqi run “medical city” had been given into the care of her family. Without anywhere else to go with his wounded daughter, Tebarek’s father had returned to Yusufiyah, where she had first been treated.
The little girl before Ludlow was not in great shape. In the intervening time since their last encounter, she had undergone several surgeries to treat the shrapnel injuries to her leg and abdomen sustained during the mortar attack. A risk of infection left her in desperate need of intravenous medications and her wounds needed to be cleaned and her dressings changed. Ludlow immediately set to work on these tasks.
The next day, Tebarek was again in the Iraqi Army aid station for medications and dressing changes when an Iraqi interpreter came to find Ludlow and bring him to her.
This time, he entered the aid station in the midst of an argument between Tebarek’s father and an Iraqi medic.
According to her father, Ludlow was the only one he would trust with Tebarek’s care. Touched, he proceeded to treat the child. As he did so, Ludlow spoke to her father through the interpreter explaining the medications he used and the procedures for cleaning and dressing her wounds.
Content with the care of his child, Tebarek’s father informed Sgt. Ludlow: “Tebarek is your daughter now. Do what you would do to your own daughter in order to make her well.”
From that day on, the child’s treatment has been entrusted to Ludlow’s care. And, he takes his job seriously.
In addition to treating Tebarek’s wounds, Ludlow has befriended the girl. She now knows that coming to see her “other father” means gifts of gum and candy, as well as the occasional beanie baby from a stash the Yusufiyah medics keep for the Iraqi children.
Despite the dedication and quality of care Tebarek receives in Yusufiyah, she still must face a long and tedious road to getting well. However, there is comfort in knowing that she is in good and compassionate hands with Ludlow for as long as she continues to come and see him.
