3 children from Iraq to get life-saving treatment at Shriners Boston

BOSTON — Three Iraqi children arrived in Boston to be treated in the US for injuries they suffered in the war-torn country.

They were brought to Boston, by a woman who travels the world and rescues children from violent regions across the globe.

Waiting for them at the airport was the very first child she ever rescued, Maja Kazazic. She was a 16-year-old in Bosnia when she became a victim of the war there.

"I was hanging out with five of my friends. A motor shell grenade exploded close to us killing all of my friends and I was severely injured,” Kazazic said.

Kazazic was on the brink of death when Sally Becker showed up at her bedside to rescue her.

"Twenty minutes later I found myself on a stretcher leaving with a stranger,” Kazazic said.

That laid the groundwork for the charity Sally now runs in the UK called Road to Peace. Through it, hundreds of kids from war-torn countries have been rescued.

"I thought 'well, why not do it again' and it just kind of became a habit,” Becker said. "It's what I do best I suppose.”

Tuesday, one of the three children arriving in Boston was a 17-month-old boy. Their homes in northern Iraq were attacked by ISIS. They and their families are victims of the genocide there. The toddler's face was severely burned in the camp they're forced to live in.

"He'll have to have plastic surgery for up to a year to restore his nose and he's going blind because of contracture so it's really vital,” Becker said.

Now in Boston, Kazazic will help the kids in the same way Becker helped her.

"I'm here so they can look at me, the parents can look at me and say everything is going to be OK, I'm going to be OK,” she said.

A spokesperson for Shriners Hospital for Children says it's their mission to help kids like the ones here from Iraq. The toddler will be treated in Boston, the two older ones in Minneapolis.

Cox Media Group