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Aug 2, 2009 8:29 pm US/Central
North Texan Doing Part To Help Injured Iraqi Kids
Sana Syed
BURLESON (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
A North Texas Man is on his way back to Iraq, to continue a mission he's given up his life and paying job for.
Brad Blauser lives in Baghdad these days. He doesn't have a paying job... he just has a mission.
"It's very fulfilling, knowing I'm doing something nobody else in the world is able to do," said Blauser.
Blauser first went to Iraq in 2004 as a contractor, working in an army supply warehouse. One day, an army major, who was also a friend, told Blauser he needed wheelchairs for children.
"Major Brown would tell me there were a lot of kids that would drag themselves on the ground. Just about every time they would go out, they would see kids dragging themselves that couldn't walk."
According to UNICEF, one out seven Iraqi children has a disability. Some have war injuries, but majority have birth defects. Blauser says parents either carry their children every where or leave them in back rooms of houses.
"At that point I became very aware of the great need that was out there and how much of a difference it made in the lives of the families. It needed to continue to grow."
So Blauser quit his contracting job last year and took on Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids full-time. The U.S. military takes care of his room and board. He gets four-thousand dollar wheelchairs from a non-profit company in Montana called Reach Out and Care Wheels for just 350-dollars. A humanitarian aid organization delivers them for free.
Blauser comes home once a year to Burleson to raise money for his cause. His parents try not to worry about him too much.
"I'm very proud of brad. I think he's doing what he feels called to do. He feels this is his mission," said Brad's mother Juanice.
Blauser will be on his way back to Iraq tomorrow. He says he'll stay there as long he is able to make a difference.
Blauser told us his biggest donor is not some millionaire, but an 11-year old boy from San Francisco who has raised $13,000 for Blauser's program in the last year.
If you would like to learn more about how you can donate to Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids,
click here.
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