Salee, who did not wear her artificial legs on the trip, is awed by a school of brightly colored fish in a feeding frenzy outside the plate-glass portal of a glass-bottom boat. She was accompanied by a translator and two people who raised most of the funds to bring her to the United States for corrective surgery: social worker Ann Cothran of Greenville, N.C., and Cole Miller, founder of Los Angeles-based No More Victims, a grass-roots organization dedicated to assisting Iraqi children injured in the war. There are thousands of Salees in Iraq, Miller said. I dont consider this charity. Its responsibility. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
Salee, right, and her island friend Sammi enjoy a cruise along Avalon Harbor. Next week, Salee will begin her journey back to Baghdad, where she will reunite with her mother, who is pregnant, a diabetic brother and a sister who lost part of a foot in last year’s explosion. Salee will return to the United States every 12 to 18 months for follow-up examinations and more sophisticated mechanical knees, which will enable her to walk unaided by crutches. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
