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Zubaida Hasan lived with his family in a small, remote village in Afghanistan. When he was just 9 years old, in 2001, a fire accident changed his life forever.
The flames burned much of his face, chest, and other parts of his body. The injuries were so severe that his face literally melted into his chest.
Her desperate parents took her to local hospitals but the doctors said they couldn’t do anything for her. A year after her accident, her father decided to try her luck and took her to a United States military base, which had invaded that country after the attacks on the Twin Towers on 9/11.
The soldiers were moved by the pain of the girl who could barely eat and sleep. Her mouth was very battered and her eyelids could barely close. From the military base, they contacted a Los Angeles plastic surgeon named Peter Grossman (pictured right). His specialty was burning people and he realized the seriousness of the case.
Zubaida flew with her father to the US to meet Grossman and his team. The doctor immediately knew that he had to help the girl. He estimated that her treatment would last at least three years as the girl would need many operations.
They used skin from different parts of her body to reconstruct her face and the other affected body parts. In this way, her body would not reject the skin grafts.
The surgery team demonstrated her great talent after the first operation. Slowly Zubaida’s face began to take shape.
During the operations, Grossman began to feel very close to Zubaida. When her father had to return to Afghanistan, Grossman and her wife decided to take care of the child so that she could complete all of her treatment. The Grossmans were childless, so the presence of this Afghan girl brought humor and energy to their lives.
The girl started going to school in California and surrounded herself with new friends. Zubaida even started calling the Grossman “Papi” and “Mami”. After the tenth operation, she also celebrated her eleventh birthday.
A year had passed, instead of the three originally suggested by the plastic surgeon, and it was time for the girl to return to her home as the treatment was almost complete.
After saying goodbye to her friends and her “foster mother,” Zubaida traveled to her home country with Dr. Grossman to be reunited with her family. They couldn’t believe what their eyes were seeing. Tears of emotion were not long in coming.
Grossman sadly had to say goodbye to his dear patient and foster daughter. “If I find out that you got married at thirteen, I’ll come to beat your butt,” the surgeon joked as he said goodbye to Zubaida. She and her family, meanwhile, said goodbye to their American guardian angel.
