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Nov 20, 2009 4:54 am US/Central
North Texan Chosen As One Of CNN's 'Heroes'
HURST (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
Last year, Brad Blauser gave up his full time job, his income and his home in North Texas and moved to Iraq. His mission is to provide disabled Iraqi children with wheelchairs.
"I've inadvertently become the spokesperson for children who can't walk," he says.
Blauser first went to Iraq in 2004 as a contractor. He worked in an Army supply warehouse. One day, a friend, also a major in the Army, told him they needed wheelchairs for children. The soldiers told him the children would drag themselves on the ground because they couldn't walk.
"Disabled children are the ones who can't run when the scary times come, when the bombs come, when the guns start firing," he told CBS 11 News, "they can't get away."
UNICEF reports one out of seven Iraqi children has a disability. While some suffer war injuries, the majority have birth defects.
"To have their life change and to see the family, the parents," Blauser described, "they are overjoyed because they don't have to lift the child."
To date, "Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids," has donated 750 pediatric wheelchairs, at no cost to the families. Blauser gets the wheelchairs from a non-profit company in Montana at a cost of $350.00 each. A humanitarian aid organization delivers them for free.
Now his work is getting national media attention. Blauser is a contender for the 2009 CNN Hero Award. Chosen from more than 9,000 submissions, he was chosen as one of the, "Top 10 CNN Heroes." The program, which was started by CNN, spotlights everyday citizens accomplishing extraordinary deeds. It awarded him $25,000, but he is eligible for a $100,000 award that would benefit, "Wheelchairs for Iraqi Kids."
"I feel awkward with the label, 'hero,' because I think of some of my friends over there who have given their lives to service this country," Blauser said, "and I consider them my heroes."
"I don't really consider myself a hero," he continued, "just a guy who found himself in the right position to be able to help the kids."
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