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Preemptive Love Coalition Home   Lifesaving heart surgeries for Iraqi children in pursuit of peace between communities at odds.


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Meet Ali!

January 15, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

A photo of Ali in a doctor's coat and stethoscope.
A lot of you met Ali already, when he welcomed you to Remedy.

Whether he’ll admit it or not, he’s the ringleader and the brains behind The Fantastic Five. When Ali and The Fantastic Five aren’t by my side, it usually means I’m in the OR or in a meeting, in which case Ali will patiently sit right outside the door separating us. Just last night he called me over a dozen times on my phone, asking how I was doing and exhausting all of the Arabic I know.

Ali playfully checks a boy's heart with his stethoscope.
What excites me the most about my friend Ali, though, is what he wants to be when he grows up. He wants to become a heart surgeon.

Yesterday we sat down and talked about his heart defect and I asked him why he wanted to become a heart surgeon. He responded, “I want to save others like me.”

If all goes well, Ali is just days away from his lifesaving heart surgery, where he’ll be saved by a heart surgeon and his team. I asked Ali if he’s excited for his surgery and he gave me a thumbs up and said “Yes – Yes!”

Ali is one day closer to being saved and getting the chance to save others…stay tuned!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Iraq Sees Its Second Arterial Switch—Ever!

January 14, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

A photo of 19-day-old baby Ridha

Baby Ridha was born just 19 days ago. She may not be old enough to keep up with The Fantastic Five, but she was born at the perfect time for the surgeons to save her life. By the time Remedy arrived, Ridha’s heart was at the perfect developmental stage to be fixed, making her the 2nd (and the youngest!) baby to ever receive an arterial switch in Iraq!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Meet The Fantastic Five!

January 13, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

A photo of the fantastic five.

Say hello to the Fantastic Five. They formed two days ago when I was meandering down the hall meeting the families in the ward.

Yousef, the little boy front-and-center stealing the spotlight, ran up and almost dislocated my shoulder by swinging from the bed to the ground on it.

Saif, the boy over his left shoulder, let out a screech as he thought that was just the funniest thing he had ever seen. Ameer, the taller boy peaking over Yousef’s head, made a grab for the camera and managed to squeeze off a few photos of himself until I could get ahold of him.

Then Zainab, the shy girl against the wall, slapped her balloon my way and hit me in the head. Ali, the big brother of the group, stood off to the side smiling, but I’m pretty sure he’s their ringleader!

Since this meeting in the hospital ward, I haven’t been able to separate them – literally. Every chance I have of taking a photo of just one of them is always sabotaged by the other four. So this is my best attempt to get them all to hold still long enough for a photo.

All five of them have a different kind of heart defect, and all five of them are here for a chance at a lifesaving heart surgery.

Over the next few days we’ll start doing the tests needed to know how we can best help each of them. In the meantime…something tells me that they’re going to keep the hospital staff and their mothers on their toes!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

Little Amjed is The First One in and Out of Surgery!

January 12, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

A photo of Amjad resting up in ICU after his heart surgery.

Amjed is the first child to breeze through his heart operation and begin his recovery in the ICU today! Right now he has the entire ICU to himself but it’s about to get crowded fast. More are on their way!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

“So…Why Are We Here?”

January 12, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

After flying in from England, Iceland, Pakistan, Canada and America, all 15 of us walked into the hospital today to kick off the first day of Remedy.

We made it up to the operating theater on the second floor then promptly moved into a debate about football and why the Americans get away with calling it “soccer”. From there the debate shifted to American football and how that name doesn’t even make sense for the sport.

With people from over five countries in one room there are bound to be more debates like this one!

After we agreed to disagree, the lead ICU nurse posed the question. “So, why are we here?”

After a few seconds he continued, “I’m not sure what your past experiences are or how many trips you’ve been on like this one but I can assure you that we’re not here to do a bunch of surgeries. We’re here to use surgery as a tool for teaching and empowering others.”

And just like that, as soon as we knew again how to answer the question of why we were here, Remedy was officially underway!

Yes – we want to save as many lives as possible these next two weeks. But more than that, we came to teach.

The debate about “soccer” and “football” is bound to continue, but the debate about why all of us are here was answered with that one statement.

The first surgery gets underway in just minutes…stay tuned!

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

What Kind of New Year’s Resolutions Are You Making?

January 11, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

A photo of a list of resolutions for 2012.

It’s that time again.

People everywhere are putting their own will to the test. Will they make resolutions? Will those resolutions make it 12 months?

Last year, TIME Magazine posted their top 10 most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions. The list includes classics like “lose weight,” “stop smoking” and “get out of debt.”

And these are all noble aspirations! But have you ever noticed how the most common resolutions are usually so self-serving? I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone list off resolutions that weren’t almost all about them.

But this year can be different—it will be different.

Because now it just takes $25 a month over 12 months to save a child’s life. That means if you become a monthly sponsor this month you will have kept a child from death by December! Your year of giving would last their lifetime!

So, as you’re sitting down to write out resolutions, would you consider sponsoring a child? See our monthly sponsorship page to learn more, and Happy New Year!

As PLC's Press Secretary, Matt Willingham writes, reads, edits, tweets, updates, and works with a camera so as to connect hearts and minds to Iraqi children in need. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up and exploring DSLR work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

Remedy Is On Its Way!

January 10, 2012 by Cody · Leave a Comment 

A photo of the plane that took us from Sulaymaniyah to Basra

Today, after an hour delay (which isn’t bad at all for Iraq) I boarded the plane for the south to launch Remedy Mission VIII!

I stepped off the plane and as my passport was getting stamped with a visa, a man approached me, curious that I was the only American on the plane, and asked, “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here to help save lives!”

His eyes lit up as I told him about the medical training team that was on its way to Iraq to save 20 little lives. They’re still boarding planes around the world, but in just 24 more hours we can start doing what we came here to do: train doctors and save lives.

Thanks for sticking with us! More to come…

Cody Fisher is the co-founder and Development Director of the Preemptive Love Coalition. He moved to Iraq in 2007 where he met his wife and since then they've been waging peace and mending hearts across Iraq. His passions are photography, peacemaking, and food that doesn't come out of a can. You can follow him on Twitter: @candmfisher.

A Glance Back: 2011 In Review

January 4, 2012 by matt · Leave a Comment 

An Iraqi mother kissing her son on the cheek.
Did you know that in 2011 you helped save 96 lives?

Take a second to think about that. Ignore all the other open tabs and digital noise on your screen, and consider that fact: you helped keep nearly one hundred children from death.

These are kids who, at some point, would have been rushed to the emergency room of some dilapidated hospital by terrified parents who would have had to sit and watch as their child slipped away, knowing that the problem was totally correctable, but now it’s too late—can you even imagine it?

Thankfully, you don’t have to. And neither do the families of those 96 children.

###

a photo of Nurse Sadik Khalil from southern Iraq.
But don’t forget training!

Along with all the lives saved, 2011 also held an incredible amount of training for Iraqis! Local doctors, nurses and technicians took part in five in-country surgical missions during which they got their hands dirty and gained invaluable experience. And our hospitals are now performing operations that they were incapable of just a year ago.

We’ve identified several factors that led to Iraq’s current healthcare conundrum, but the most valuable solution is training. By conservative estimates, each Remedy Mission provides hospital staff with a combined total of 5,000 hours of hands-on learning, which means in 2011 you helped provide 25,000 hours of training!

In a country where most charities are giving fish away, you supported our transition to giving fishing lessons instead—thank you! It’s this kind of long-term development that’s going to eradicate the backlog!

Transitions like this are difficult, though. Where equipment and experience are lacking, the mortality risk is always greater. We lost some incredible children in 2011, and we will never forget them.

###

And there’s so much more to tell! Our director spoke at TEDxBagdad (click the link and skip to minute 58), we launched several new video projects, and, after various trips to new cities in Iraq, we’ve been asked by eight different hospitals to return with teams in 2012.

You’ve also changed Iraq’s story this past year.

In the midst of thousands of headlines about troop withdrawal, the erosion of Iraq’s government, and the continued violence across the country, you’ve provided a different story. One of hope. One of cooperation for the common good. These are the stories that prove things in Iraq can get better, and we’ll continue to tell them throughout 2012.

And the bottom line is that we’re thankful; thankful for you, for our partners, and for everyone who made 2011 such a success. I can’t wait to see what we’re able to do together in 2012!

As PLC's Press Secretary, Matt Willingham writes, reads, edits, tweets, updates, and works with a camera so as to connect hearts and minds to Iraqi children in need. On the side, he likes reading stories, devouring the great food his wife cooks up and exploring DSLR work. He's also mildly obsessed with Twitter: @mehtin.

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