Local News in Brief : War Victim Has Surgery

Anibal, the 13-year-old Salvadoran boy in East Los Angeles for medical treatment, underwent more than four hours of surgery for nerve damage to his right hand caused by bullet wounds suffered seven years ago during the warfare in his country.

“I did a tendon transfer which will enable him to open his fingers and have very good movement,” said Dr. Alejandro M. Sanchez, who performed the operation at Santa Marta Hospital. “ . . . He’ll never be completely normal, but he will be much better than he was.”

Anibal was one of twelve Salvadoran children brought to the United States for medical care under the Children’s Project, a program co-sponsored by Medical Aid to El Salvador, a Los-Angeles based humanitarian organization, and the Archdiocese of San Salvador.

The boy was resting Friday in the home of Maria Cristina Samaniego, who also is hosting his mother and brother. “Last night, he was in pain,” she said, “but this morning he’s a little more aware and he had a little breakfast.”