Peshmerga at risk of losing second eye cannot afford surgery

KIRKUK, Kurdistan Region - Izzaddin Ibrahim is a Peshmerga in Kirkuk. He lost an eye in a 24-hour long fight against ISIS militants inside Kirkuk when they attacked the city in late October 2016.

 

"A fierce fighting erupted here. The ISIS militants were surrounded in this school. We were about seven to eight resisting against them. Right there, they tossed a grenade at me. This is where I was wounded," Ibrahim recalled.

Ibrahim needs surgery on his other eye, which he is also at risk of losing. The cost is less than 4,000,000 IQD (3,000), but he cannot afford it.

He sighed "given that I have lost [the right eye], I am likely to lose the other one, too. I need a surgery to stabilize and protect the other eye. Right now, its sight is 4/6. I cannot afford to pay. I am a Peshmerga and you know what the situation of the Peshmerga is like. I also pay 200,000 IQD per month as rent.”

A physician Ibrahim has consulted said an operation on his eye can be done in Erbil and he does not need to go abroad to receive treatment.

"When he was wounded we did surgery on him immediately and we did our outmost for him… There is a private hospital in Erbil and one in Baghdad where he could be treated. But the operation requires three million to four million Iraqi dinars," said Dr. Raeed Sami.

As many as 10,000 Peshmerga have been wounded in the fight against ISIS.