STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
The State Department has paused approval of visas that let a small number of medically vulnerable children from Gaza get treatment in the United States. A right-wing activist had criticized that program in which many of the kids are amputees. So what was that program like when it was operating? Earlier this year, a child arrived in the red state of Kentucky and received a prosthetic leg. This story comes from reporter Amina Elahi. She's with Louisville Public Media, which is in that community and supported by that community, and she has a story of what happened in that community.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Go down the slide (ph).
AMINA ELAHI, BYLINE: When 6-year-old Saher Qahwaji was in Louisville, Kentucky, earlier this year, he was getting used to his new prosthetic leg. At physical therapy, Saher practiced taking the stairs and came back down the clinic's big green slide.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Wee.
ELAHI: His mother, Eman, said she left behind her husband and two older sons to bring Saher here. He lost much of his right leg in July 2024 when the Israeli military bombed the neighborhood where the family was staying with relatives. The bombing also killed his infant brother. The IDF says it was targeting Hamas infrastructure. In Gaza, there was no hope of getting a prosthetic, so Louisville community members stepped up from hosting Saher and his mom in their homes to providing pro bono medical care.
EMAN QAHWAJI: (Through interpreter) I was overwhelmed by the amount of welcoming that I found here - the love that I see.
ELAHI: I spoke with Eman Qahwaji through an interpreter.
QAHWAJI: (Through interpreter) So me seeing Saher is adjusting to the new limb - it made me happy. It made me happy and relieved.
ELAHI: There's a growing need for rehabilitation and prostheses in Gaza. In June, a U.N. agency reported 6,000 people needed prosthetic services. It said nearly a quarter of amputations were performed on children. Ohio-based nonprofit Heal Palestine recently brought 11 children to the U.S. for care. It says it's helped about five dozen kids altogether since last year. For Saher in Kentucky, it found a willing provider in Wayne Luckett, co-owner of Louisville Prosthetics.
WAYNE LUCKETT: Well, it seemed like the right thing to do more than anything.
ELAHI: Luckett said a custom-fit leg would usually cost about $10,000, but Luckett and others donated everything Saher needed.
LUCKETT: When I met him, actually, his nickname was Little Bunny. So he hopped like a bunny on one leg.
ELAHI: Luckily, Saher accepted the prosthetic quickly.
LUCKETT: The children are so much geared in on just wanting to be normal, just wanting to fit in, just wanting to go to the playground.
ELAHI: Normally, Luckett sees pediatric patients frequently as they grow.
LUCKETT: Four months, eight months, 12 months later, we're going to be needing something, whether it's a length adjustment, a bigger foot, a longer socket.
ELAHI: But Saher won't get his follow-ups here because he had to leave the U.S. So Luckett gave his mom extra liners plus a longer shin tube. That way, she can make some adjustments as he grows. Luckett hopes amputees in Gaza will get a lot of help from practitioners like him after the war, as he recognizes the need for prosthetics there. And he says they can be made at scale.
LUCKETT: With 3D printing technology, could be a game changer.
ELAHI: Dr. Zeena Salman, the co-founder of Heal Palestine, recently spoke to MORNING EDITION. She says a lot of the kids they brought to the U.S. are amputees, but they've lost more than limbs.
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ZEENA SALMAN: Many of these children are orphaned or have lost a sibling or a parent, and yet they're considered lucky.
ELAHI: Salman says they're just trying to give these kids some semblance of their childhood back.
For NPR News, I'm Amina Elahi in Louisville.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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