Bomb Damage to Iraqi Boy's Eyes Is Worse Than Expected

By JEFFREY GETTLEMAN
Published: July 19, 2005

Ayad al-Sirowiy, the 13-year-old Iraqi boy who came to America last week with a burned face and big hopes, hit a major setback yesterday.

While being examined for a possible cornea transplant, Ayad learned not only that his right eye, which was visibly injured by an American cluster bomb, was damaged beyond repair, but also that his left eye had tiny bomb fragments in it and might require emergency surgery to save his sight.