Unexpected Rewards for Saving Afghan Girl

Dec. 18 -- These days, Zubaida Hasan looks like a normal little girl. But two years ago, in a tiny village in Afghanistan, she was unimaginably disfigured in an accident.

An American doctor gave her her life back — and they both got more than they ever hoped for in each other.

Zubaida had been carrying a kerosene lamp when she fell and caught on fire. Her chin melted onto her chest. She was unable to close her eyes. And her right arm was bent and glued to her side. She was 9 years old.

"She was drooling because she couldn't close her mouth. She was skinny because she wasn't able to eat properly. She was sleeping with her eyes open and it was taking its toll on her. You could see that she was wearing down," said Dr. Peter Grossman.

On the Road to Recovery

Zubaida and Grossman first met early last year, after her father, Muhammad, sought help from American soldiers in Afghanistan. She was sent to the Grossman Burn Center in Los Angeles, which was founded by Peter's father, Richard Grossman.

Peter Grossman said Zubaida was one of the worst burn cases he had ever seen, and along with his father, he planned for her to undergo a series of a dozen surgeries. The treatment would cost $1 million in all, but it would be paid for by the Children's Burn Foundation of Sherman Oaks, Calif.

If you want to learn more about Zubaida Hasan and what you can do to help her and her family in Afghanistan, go to the Children's Burn Foundation Web site at this address: http://www.childburn.org.

The procedures were excruciating. In the first week alone, Zubaida underwent two surgeries — to free up her neck, and to add skin grafts from her own back. The next four operations would involve treatment for her arm, her eyelid, her ear and lip.

By that point, the transformation was already under way. "She looked like a weird, 80-year-old man, and now a little girl evolved from underneath that mask of scar tissue," Grossman said.