Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone

Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone
By Colin Perkel, The Canadian Press

U.S. medic Staff-Sgt. Rob Marchetti places ear phones on a seven-year-old Afghan girl who had been shot in the back en route a medevac chopper over southern Afghanistan on Saturday, May 7, 2011. The American medevac team provides air evacuation services to Canadian and other coalition soldiers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel 

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — The distressed cries of the little girl are obvious in any language: "Daddy, daddy, it hurts."

Her eyes speak pain, fear and confusion, even if her words are drowned out by the pulsing scream of the helicopter turbines.

Her father, clutching a stuffed animal in his left hand, reaches over and puts his right hand on her bare chest, soothing her as he gently admonishes her to be quiet.

The girl, just seven years old, is on her way to hospital via an American medevac chopper from Kandahar city, where she had been shot in the back during insurgent unrest.

The bullet tore her through her slender frame, exiting her abdomen and lodging in her arm.

U.S. Staff Sgt. Rob Marchetti places an oversized pair of headphones over her ears to quiet the noise of the chopper and allow the calm chatter of the crew to comfort her.

He puts an oxygen mask over her mouth, hooks her to a monitor, and keeps a close eye on her stable vital signs for the 15-minute flight to the hospital on an Afghan army base.
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Airborne medics save life and limb from chopper over Afghanistan's war zone