Helping Sierra Leone's Maimed
Two years ago, Muctarr Jalloh was a college-bound student when the civil war in Sierra Leone invaded his life and shattered his dreams, CBS News Correspondent Thalia Assuras reports.
"He asked me to kneel down like this. I said, like this? He asked me to put down my hand. I was afraid," Jalloh said.
He fell into the hands of the rebel army and encountered it's method of terrorizing civilians — severing limbs. Jalloh knew he couldn't stop them, but he had a request.
"Please, remove my left hand. I'm a student," he said. "I'm a right-handed somebody and my future lies in my hand. Please."
Jalloh lost his right hand and one of his ears. An estimated 20,000 Sierra Leonians have been maimed by the swing of a machete. Many of the victims are children like 8-year-old Damba Koroma, and 4-year-old Memunata Mansaray, who is the sole survivor of a massacre that killed over 300 people. Others, like Mohammed Contey, were injured in the fighting.
The decade-long civil war has also claimed 75,000 lives. Rebel factions and government forces are battling for control of the nation and its lucrative diamond mines.
Like many Americans, 43-year-old Matthew Mirones had not heard about the war in Sierra Leone until a year ago. The emotional impact of the atrocities led him to extend his hand to some of the conflict's casualties.
"As a human being, I was compelled to do something, but certainly as a professional, I can truly have an impact and help these people in positive way," Mirones said.
President of a firm in Brooklyn, New York that manufactures artificial limbs, Mirones spearheaded an effort to bring six children and two adults to the United States for new limbs. Airplane flights, medical services and prosthetics, which can cost up to $10,000 each, have all been donated.
Contey hasn't walked in two years. On this October morning, he tries out a temporary device for the first time, and just can't stay still.
"If you think he did well this morning, you'll see him in two or three days with clothing and you will not know he's an amputee," Mirones said.
Contey's thrill will be shared by all of the children soon, and Jalloh said he will once again be able to grasp the future that was so brutally taken from him.
"It has taken me three years now without eating with my right hand so I know if I got that hand I will do so many things," Jalloh said. "I would like to further my studies, I have to do so much work for my country and the children as a whole."
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