Rx: Two Bricks, a Turban

Held by his father, a boy lies sedated in a hospital hours after his right leg was amputated. He was walking in Urozgan, Afghanistan when a bomb dropped by U.S. war planes exploded near the footpath.

Held by his father, a boy lies sedated in a hospital hours after his right leg was amputated. He was walking in Urozgan, Afghanistan when a bomb dropped by U.S. war planes exploded near the footpath.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

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Rx: Two Bricks, a Turban

A sign at the head of Mohammed Qasim's bed at Sandeman Civic Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, describes his injuries.

A sign at the head of Mohammed Qasim’s bed at Sandeman Civic Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, describes his injuries. While asleep, the blast from a nearby U.S. bombing strike injured his left hand. Neighbor’s hired a driver for an 8-hour trip to Quetta.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

The curious, the infirm and a tea server cross paths at the emergency room entrance

Passersby stare as an unconcious heart attack victim sits slumped in a van. The man was carried here by a passing motorist who responded to his wife’s pleas for help. The man later died.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

7-yr-old Fermina Bibi lies burned and broken, still in the "special dress" she wore to her sister's house in Urozgan, Afghanistan, when a bomb dropped by U.S. war planes exploded.

A 7-yr-old girl lies burned in her hospital bed. A bomb dropped by U.S. war planes exploded where she was walking. When asked what she remembers she said, “dust, big dust.”  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

From a hospital bed in Quetta, Mohammad Aman, 60, drinks morning tea through a catheter tube.

Mohammad Aman drinks morning tea through a catheter tube. A bomb explosion toppled a wall on top of him, breaking his back.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

An Afghan bombing victim is whisked into the emergency room on a rusty gurney missing one of its wheels. The poor hospital often asks patients to buy their own medicine and supplies.

An Afghan bombing victim is whisked into the emergency room on a rusty gurney missing one of its wheels. The poor hospital often asks patients to buy their own medicine and supplies.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

Surgeon Mohammed Ramzan, kneeling on floor at right, wrestles an Afghan patient's dislocated hip into place at Sandeman Civil Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan.

Surgeon Mohammed Ramzan, kneeling on floor at right, wrestles an Afghan patient’s dislocated hip into place at Sandeman Civil Hospital in Quetta, Pakistan.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)

Abdul Wasey, 10, lies in bed with a makeshift traction device--a brick--on his leg as his father and uncle eat lunch on the hospital floor. A wall fell on the boy during bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Abdul Wasey, 10, lies in bed with a makeshift traction device--a brick--on his leg as his father and uncle eat lunch on the hospital floor. A wall fell on the boy during bombing in Kandahar, Afghanistan.  (DON BARTLETTI / Los Angeles Times)