Apr 1, 2008

BOSTON (WBZ) - When we first met Omar last year, his scalp and face were horribly scarred and his left thumb was fused to his hand. The five year-old was one of the many casualties of war in his home country of Iraq.

Omar and his family were driving near a checkpoint when gunfire erupted. His mother was killed, his father shot, and Omar suffered critical burns. He was brought to Children's Hospital Boston for treatment - treatments that one year later, are changing his life.

WBZ-TV's Lisa Hughes recently revisited Omar. After a gruelling year filled with several surgeries and weekly procedures, Omar is going strong.

With the help of a translator, Lisa spoke with Omar's father, Sabah.

Lisa: How has his recovery been from the surgeries?

Translator: He is doing well and not being effected by the surgery he had.

Lisa: Is he finding out that Omar is even stronger than he realized?

Translator: He has lots of energy and he tries to show it off.

Surgeons at Children's Hospital expanded the tissue on his head and used it to give him hair on parts of his scalp that were burned. They also released Omar's thumb, so now he can use it to grasp and climb. The day we visited, he was proudly crossing the monkey bars.

Omar goes to school and has become comfortable with his new life in America. And in many respects, he is becoming a typical American child. "He loves to play; He loves to be with children," the interpreter said.

"Many times games, play on internet," Omar's father added.

When asked about the people at Children's Hospital Boston, Omar gives an enthusiastic nod.

"Omar is doing wonderfully," said Dr. Brian Labow, one of Omar's surgeons. He is just one of about twenty people involved in Omar's medical team.

"I think he's really going to benefit from both the functional and aesthetic improvements that Children's Hospital has been able to provide for him," said Dr. Labow.

Despite how well he is doing, Omar has a long way to go, including more surgery to finish scalp reconstruction and to re-build his damaged ear.

"(Through interpreter) He always talks to me and says to me, 'when will I have my hair back? When will I have my ears back? When will I have my chin back? Will I ever be healed completely again?' " Omar's father said.

With the help of Children's Hospital Boston, the answer is soon.

"I want to thank everyone," Sabah says through the interpreter. "I want to thank the whole world."

Omar says he likes the United States so much he wants to stay and grow up here and go to Harvard.