The cap hides a mostly bald head, with only a few sprigs of hair remaining. His ears are gone, but he still can hear.
His arms are scarred and contracted; he can't extend them. His right thumb and pinky are missing, leaving his tiny hand a rolled ball.
Thanks to an organization called the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) as well as San diego County families, doctors and Mercy Hospital, reconstructive surgery is planned
at Mercy Hospital in Hillcrest.
Steve Sosebee is the founder and executive director of PCRF, based in Kent, Ohio. He and his wife, Huda, who is Palestinian, accompanied Amar to San Diego.
In Amar's case, he was taken to an Israeli hospital, and they stabilized his condition. But, he couldn't stay there indefinitely, and there was no burn treatment center for him.
Amar is the second to come to San Diego County.
Nidal Mohsen, who was 6 at the time, had been shot in the face, and doctors at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla removed the boy's eye and replaced it with a high-quality prosthesis in 1994.
Excerpted from the Beirut Times by Gabriela Tayem
Four major surgeries later, Amar is able to close his eyes when he is sleeping, he has much more mobility of his neck and his thumb has been detached and from his wrist.
He can also stretch out his arms. His whole face has a new expression, enhanced by the freshly tattooed eyebrows created by Dr. Michael Peters. He now has ears that were constructed
by Dr. Lawrence MaCarthy that do much to improve Amar's appearance.
Dr. Arbon was the anesthesiologist who was present at all the operations.
Amar was hosted by Gabriela and Mohamad Tayem and Hiam and Marwan Khaireddin as well as other families in San Diego who provided relief.
