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Advertisement | Miracle Baby In IraqYoung Survivor Captures The Hearts Of U.S. TroopsBAGHDAD, Aug. 13, 2007 ![]() ![]() Small Miracle In IraqLara Logan reports on Fatima, an Iraqi baby girl who has survived after losing her parents and captivated the American soldiers who rescued her. | Share/Embed (CBS) Her name is Fatima and the nurses caring for her guess she's about nine months old. No one knows for sure because both her parents are dead. In fact, it's a small miracle that Fatima herself isn't dead as well. Nearly three weeks ago, she arrived at the U.S. hospital in the Green Zone emaciated and dangerously close to death. Lt. Hattie McDowell gave the underweight, weak little girl her first bath. "When she first got here, she was so skinny. Her arms and legs were just bones, and we could see her ribs," she tells CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan. Fatima's life was saved by her 7-year-old brother, who led Iraqi and U.S. soldiers to their home, where they discovered her mother and uncle had been shot at close range to the head. Fatima lay helpless and dying in the sweltering sun. Lt. Eric Laflin of the 1st Infantry Division, who Logan managed to reach by phone at a combat outpost, described his horror at the scene. "Personally, this is one of the hardest things I've seen," he said. "I've been in Iraq 12 months now. I've seen a lot of things, but this is one of the worst." With constant love and attention from the hospital staff, Fatima has already put on three pounds and is doing much better, for now. It's been nearly three weeks and no one has visited little Fatima except for the soldiers who rescued her. The hospital staff members know she can't stay here forever, and they're desperately worried about her future. © MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Advertisement |
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