Ali Abbas (born 1991) is an

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i man who drew media attention after being severely injured in a night-time aerial missile attack near

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...

during the United States' 2003

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

Injury

During the attack, two American missiles landed on his family's home, killing his parents (his mother was pregnant with another child at the time), his brother and 13 other members of his family. Both of Ali's arms had to be

amputate Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

d and

third-degree burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

s covered at least 35 percent of his body. He was 12 years old at the time. He underwent treatment in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

, and later in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where he was fitted with robotic prosthetic arms, paid for by the Kuwaiti government. He no longer uses the arms, having found them too heavy and unwieldy, although he wore artificial arms while attending school so as not to draw attention to himself. He attended the Hall School Wimbledon.

Citizenship

On January 1, 2010, it was announced Ali Abbas would get a British passport. Ali had offers from other countries, such as Canada and the United States, but he turned them down because they would not take his friend with him.

Publicity

In 2004, ''The Ali Abbas Story'' was written about Ali by

Jane Warren Jane A. Warren (born September 8, 1950) is an American politician and educator who served in the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008, representing the 13th legislative district of Wyoming as a Democrat. Early life and education War ...

and published by

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News Cor ...

. He was featured on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' on 13 May 2007. He was featured in the September 2011 edition of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine.

Limbless Association

The

Limbless Association The Limbless Association is a charitable organization in the United Kingdom set up to help those with limb loss, and assist their families and carers. It is registered with the Charity Commission for England and Wales and its charity registration ...

(LA) set up a dedicated fund to assist those rendered amputees by the Iraq conflict. During a visit to Iraq LA Chairman Zafar Khan met Ahmad Hamza, a 14-year-old boy who had also been injured in the Iraq conflict, resulting in his right leg and left hand being amputated. The Limbless Association pledged to use the Ali Fund to help both Ali and Ahmad. LA was the legal guardian for both Ali and Ahmad until they reached 18 years of age.

The Baghdad Bikers

Ali and his friends go on a publicity bike ride every year, called the Baghdad Bikers.

Notes

References

* *

External links

Limbless Association official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbas, Ali Hamdani 1976 births Living people People without hands People educated at Hall School Wimbledon