A PEAK BEHIND THE SCENES INTO MOHAMMAD STAR’S SURGERY from Preemptive Love on Vimeo.

When he arrived in Iraq to intern with the Preemptive Love Coalition 5 months ago, Joshua Gigliotti never imagined he would end up sitting in on a heart surgery with one of the most amazing pediatric heart surgeons in this part of the world…

When Kelly gave his extremely needed, life-saving donation last week, he may not have known that he was actually going to have a chance to see how we put his hard-earned money to work.

And when Sheikh Fakher & Sheikh Towfiq of the Qaiwan Group graciously funded Mohammad’s surgery, in fulfillment of PLC’s requirement that 50% of all life-saving surgery funds come from within Iraq’s borders, they hoped (but couldn’t be sure) that their investment would go beyond good intentions.

And even Mohammad and his mother, when they got on the plane three days ago from Iraq to Turkey, probably did not expect that they would come to feel deep gratitude and love for the administrative, nursing, and doctoral staff of the Anadolu Medical Center.

But Josh was in that surgery, creating this media production to show to Kelly, the Qaiwan group, and you, and Mohammad’s mom erupted in prayers of thanksgiving and praise to God for the Turks that live to the north of her… These Turks that her neighbors might very well call enemies, she now calls friends.

Press play above to see beyond good intentions… watch a life be changed forever!

Idrees is the Next Child Waiting in Line for Life-Saving Surgery

	Idrees is slated for surgery in January 2010. We will be collecting money for his life-saving surgery throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family!
	Donate the amount of your choice to Idrees by entering it in the field below. All donations made before January 2010 will go to help the Preemptive Love Coalition send Idrees (and any others in his group) to life-saving heart surgery.

Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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When he arrived as an intern 5 months ago Joshua Gigliotti never imagined he would end up sitting in on a heart surgery with one of the most amazing pediatric heart surgeons in this part of the world…

When Kelly gave his extremely needed, life-saving donation last week, he may not have known that he was actually going to have a chance to see how we put his hard-earned money to work.

And when Sheikh Fakher & Sheikh Towfiq of the Qaiwan Group graciously funded Mohammad’s surgery, in fulfillment of PLC’s requirement that 50% of all life-saving surgery funds come from within Iraq’s borders, they hoped (but couldn’t be sure) that their investment would go beyond good intentions.

And even Mohammad and his mother, when they got on the plane three days ago from Iraq to Turkey, probably did not expect that they would come to feel deep gratitude and love for the administrative, nursing, and doctoral staff of the Anadolu Medical Center.

But Josh was in that surgery, creating this media production to show to Kelly, the Qaiwan group, and you, and Mohammad’s mom erupted in prayers of thanksgiving and praise to God for the Turks that live to the north of her… These Turks that her neighbors might very well call enemies, she now calls friends.

Press play above to see beyond good intentions… watch a life be changed forever!

Idrees is the Next Child Waiting in Line for Life-Saving Surgery

	Idrees is slated for surgery in January 2010. We will be collecting money for his life-saving surgery throughout the Thanksgiving and Christmas season. What a chance to make a profound difference in the life of a child and his family!
	Donate the amount of your choice to Idrees by entering it in the field below. All donations made before January 2010 will go to help the Preemptive Love Coalition send Idrees (and any others in his group) to life-saving heart surgery.

Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

After the long journey from Iraq to Istanbul and a full day of tests and waiting in his room, Mohammad is on his way to surgery! Push play above to see his final waking moments before the doctors get to work changing his life forever!

Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

This little nine year old, Mohammad, has been great. Very calm, very respectful….I even had him laughing last night as he was getting his EKG.

Honya is a very sick nine month old girl. We are so nervous for her…..she’s the riskiest girl we’re sending.

Vary is a spunky little two year old who loves stuffed animals. You wouldn’t know it by looking at her that her heart is failing, but she is actually an urgent case. We are hopeful that her surgery will set her back on track for a happy, healthy life running and playing with her friends. Her mom says she can go anywhere as long as “blankie” can go too!

On November 3rd Vary and blankie (and mom) take off for Istanbul for surgery at the Anadolu Medical Center.

Follow 2-year-old Vary on Twitter: @varybahman. Subscribe to Vary’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Vary’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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Mohammed is the oldest of three children. He lives with his family in a small village where they live on the top floor of their barn. He has been waiting a long time for a chance to have his heart repaired. He is looking forward to walking all the way to school after he has recovered from surgery. His mom thanks us tearfully every time we see her. She cannot believe it is finally Mohammad’s turn!

Follow 11-year-old Mohammad on Twitter: @mohammadstar. Subscribe to Mohammad updates via RSS HERE. Follow Mohammad’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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Danar is your average three year old boy. He loves to joke and play with his older brother. He has lived a mostly normal life except for having to sit out to rest while playing with friends or walking with his parents. He recently was hospitalized after turning blue while playing with his brother. His oxygen saturation is back up and he is ready to have surgery so that he can play like all the other boys.

Follow 3-year-old Danar on Twitter: @danarsami. Subscribe to Danar’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Danar’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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Honya is a precious little girl. She is always smiling and giggling despite the lack of oxygen flowing in her blood to her brain and the rest of her body. At nine months old she weighs roughly 12 pounds. She loves music and toys that light up. Dr. Çiçek at the Johns Hopkins affiliated Anadolu Medical Center in Istanbul, Turkey is very hopeful that she will have a full correction and believes that she is likely to benefit significantly from surgical intervention.

Follow 9-month-old Honya on Twitter: @honyamahdi. Subscribe to Honya’s updates via RSS HERE. Follow Honya’s thread of longer stories (with pictures & video) on the PLC blog HERE.

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“The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”

-Aristotle

That’s a brilliant dead guy’s way of saying – there’s more to you than just what you’re made of! And, after two weeks of shadowing PLC family advocates, I’m thoroughly convinced that they hold to this maxim in their care of Iraqi children.

Because a child is so much more than a collection of organs and bones – or a diseased heart.

Serious energy, thought, and discussion is put into the pursuit of holistic care, and I’ve seen how much it costs them to go this extra mile. In reality, these surgeries could be mostly facilitated from a comfortable distance with a mocha and a fast computer, but the PLC staff has moved far from friends and family to provide much more than a well-funded medical procedure. They offer heart surgeries that allow for a better, longer life.

But, if you’re like me, you read ‘holistic’ and you’re a little skeptical. It’s an easy word to toss around, but actual application is a much more slippery story. And who can say what is or isn’t a ‘whole’ child? That’s why PLC freely admits that holistic care is an ongoing process. They know they haven’t arrived, but they also know that a 4 hour heart surgery is just one of the many needs an average Iraqi child faces, and they aim to meet them at any cost.

And the results of these lofty endeavors are beautiful. They allow Iraqis to see Americans in a different light, they create good will among local ethnic rivals, they help Muslims reconsider what they’ve been told about Christians, and they show whole families that they matter and God cares for them.

Adhering to this process of holistic care may seem like an inconceivable goal to some, but the bi-product is a peace that most Westerners assume and most Iraqis can’t even fathom.

5 WAYS TO SAVE A LIFE THIS OCTOBER!

1. Stuff home-made flyers about the Preemptive Love Coalition in your Halloween costume and drop them off at each house as you go trick-or-treatin’!

2. Throw a Halloween party and ask your friends to bring money to donate to Honya and Danar’s heart surgery this November!

3. Instead of buying a candy bar for a dollar - tell each trick-or-treater that you’re donating a dollar to the Preemptive Love Coalition for each trick-or-treater that shows up to your door!  (extra points for taking a picture of the reaction on their face when you tell them that)

4. Sell your candy to your little brother or sister and use that money to put Honya and Danar on a plane to receive life saving heart surgery!

5. Enter an amount below to save a life right NOW!

Little Honya is next child from Iraq in line for life-saving heart surgery. The chambers of her heart are enlarged and she has a huge hole in a very critical place. We want to fly her to Istanbul, Turkey on November 8, 2009. But before she can go, we need to cover the cost of airfare for her and her mother ($405). Donation:

Danar is is your average three year old boy… except that he was recently hospitalized after turning blue while playing with his brother from a lack of oxygen in his blood. In other kids, we’ve seen this lead to brain damage. Danar has dodged that thus far. We still require roundtrip airfare ($822) for two before sending him in November. But this surgery is likely to do more than merely help Danar avoid brain damage… we can actually set Danar free to live! Donation: