Bosnia War Injured Arrive in Southland : Airlift: Orange County benefactor organizes effort. One man is rushed to Irvine Medical Center.

Four casualties from the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina arrived in Southern California Thursday evening, culminating an extraordinary airlift to provide medical care to the sick and wounded engineered by a hospital administrator from Huntington Beach.

Sonja Hagel, who has long worked to provide care for those caught in the war, accompanied the victims as they were wheeled from a commercial airliner at Los Angeles International Airport and into a crowd of well-wishers and hospital officials.

Confined to a wheelchair, one of the injured, 15-year-old Mirela Kerla, fought back tears as she accepted a bouquet of flowers immediately after her arrival at the gate. The youngster suffered a serious wound to her right eye caused by an exploding shell.

“It was a long trip for everyone,” Hagel said, deflecting questions directed at the obviously overwhelmed visitors, all of whom were in wheelchairs. “We plan to care for them, feed them and put them to bed tonight. They are so tired. They are very emotional right now.”

One of the four, 42-year-old Mustafa Pajevic, whose left lower leg was shattered by a grenade in July, was immediately taken by van to Irvine Medical Center, where he has been tentatively scheduled for surgery on Monday.

Hospital officials were on hand to greet Pajevic, a former Sarajevo fuel distributor, on his arrival in Orange County. He emerged from the hospital van, attired in blue jeans and a green shirt buttoned to the top.

Donna Groh, vice president of the medical center, said Pajevic is extremely concerned about the safety of his family, who are still in Sarajevo, and especially the health of his 12-year-old son. One week before Pajevic’s trip, the boy was also wounded by a grenade.

“He is anxious to have the medical treatment,” said Groh, who spoke with Pajevic during the drive from Los Angeles, “but he is a little apprehensive about his wife and kids. Up to the very time he left (Sarajevo), he struggled with the decision.”

Pajevic did not speak with reporters, but Groh said the man told her that before his departure, Sarajevo residents had gone without water for 20 days. Electricity, he said, flickered on the verge of blackout.

Even the trip to the Sarajevo airport was described by Groh as filled with drama.

Pajevic told Groh that he was able to hitch a ride from a man who asked Pajevic “not to hold him responsible” for delivering him there safely.

Among the group greeting Pajevic was Robert C. Shaw, the medical center’s chief executive officer. “We welcomed the opportunity to be part of this effort to reach out and provide much-needed medical care to Bosnian war victims,” Shaw said.

Medical center officials said they could not elaborate on the extent of Pajevic’s injuries until he was examined. He is expected to remain in Irvine for several weeks.

Kerla and another unidentified victim were taken to Century City Hospital. The fourth victim to arrive at LAX, who also was not identified, was taken to Long Beach Memorial Hospital.

A total of 18 hospitals across the U.S. are participating in the operation. The value of the donated services is expected to top “several hundred thousand dollars” per person, one hospital official said.

The four victims who arrived in Los Angeles on Thursday were part of a 19-patient contingent, many of whom were taken from their hospital beds Monday in Sarajevo to the airport, dodging sniper fire along the way in the first medical airlift to this country since the fighting began there.

Most of the patients will require orthopedic, plastic and reconstructive surgery, as well as intensive physical rehabilitation, officials said.

At a Thursday evening news conference at Century City Hospital, where she works as an administrator, Hagel was noticeably moved at the result of her efforts.

“As you can imagine, this is quite a triumphant moment in my life,” said Hagel, who plans to return to Sarajevo next week with a team of 14 physicians from throughout the country to continue her mission. “There is an incredible need for sophisticated care.”

Of the original group of 19 who left Bosnia, five await transport to the United States from Germany. Within the next few days, some in that group are also expected to arrive in Southern California, including a 40-year-old man destined for Los Alamitos Medical Center.

That victim’s legs were blown off, and he is expected to be fitted with artificial limbs.

The evacuation organized by Hagel, called Operation Second Chance, was carried out by the United Nations and the U.S. Air Force, with the cooperation of a Swiss-based relief organization.

Hagel first visited the Balkans three years ago, before the fighting erupted. In Croatia, she met a 14-year-old boy who had been badly burned earlier in life and required extensive plastic surgery that was unavailable in his homeland.

Hagel brought the boy and his mother home to live with her and persuaded Century City doctors to care for the child.

She later organized a pen-pal group that linked California children with youngsters in Croatia. In January, after founding Operation Second Chance, she returned to Croatia with a team of surgeons and a film crew in the effort to bring medical aid to the injured there and spread news of their plight throughout the world.

During that mission, doctors performed 30 plastic and reconstructive surgeries on war victims and briefed Croatian physicians on state-of-the-art medical techniques. About the same time, the International Organization for Migration, a Geneva-based group, asked her to recruit hospitals to participate in its fledging airlift program.

In that effort, doctors were assigned to select the neediest patients in Sarajevo, while Hagel worked in the United States to persuade hospitals and doctors to donate their services to the war victims.

Hagel joined the new arrivals earlier this week when the group landed in Washington.

“Seeing their faces,” Hagel said, recalling her encounter with them on the plane, “the expressions, their emotion was very, very powerful.”

Times correspondent Shelby Grad contributed to this report.