Blinded Iraqi Police Officer Learns to Cope with Disability
by Jason Maholy

When the car sped through the first line of troops without stopping, Salah Abdul-Hassan Nasir knew something was wrong. “I tried to stop the car from ramming into the building I was guarding,” said Nasir, a 25-year-old police commander in Iraq. “I approached the vehicle and went to the side of the car to try to get the driver out. But the bomb detonated in front of me before I had a chance.”

This was January 2006. Nasir was guarding a meeting of American and Italian citizens in his hometown of Nasiriyah, Iraq, about 225 miles southeast of Baghdad. After the blast, he remembers being able to move his hands and legs, but as the ambulance drove him to the hospital he felt his energy draining away. About two hours later he completely lost consciousness for three days. When he awoke, his sight was gone.

 “My friends and family were there,” he recalled through an interpreter. “The doctors told me I had lost my sight, and I became very depressed. But they said, 'Don't worry, you will see again after about 10 days.' But after 10 days, nothing happened. I still couldn't see.”

Last Christmas Eve, Nasir arrived at the Lions World Services for the Blind (LWSB) in Little Rock, Arkansas, to begin a rehabilitation program designed to teach him the adaptive skills he needs to be independent and self-sufficient despite his blindness. There he is learning to cook, read Braille, clean his living quarters and use a computer, among other skills.

“Independence is the watch word,” said Ramona Sangalli, CEO of LWSB. “Our job is to provide them the opportunity to do what they want to do. We teach skills from cooking -- we teach you techniques to replace your eyes so that you are safe – to Braille to maintaining your house, to something as simple as signing your name on a check.”

Nasir, whose life was significantly altered when he lost his sight, said his life has completely changed again since he arrived in Little Rock four months ago.

“I've learned many things at Lions World Services for the Blind,” he said. “I know how to iron my clothes and sew my clothes, and do my own laundry. Even when I had sight I did not know how to do those things.

“Before I learned how to use a cane, I used to sit in my room and wait for someone to come get me. Now I depend on myself.  It helps me being here at Lions World to know there are other people like me.”

Before he joined the police force in Nasiriyah, Nasir was a carpenter who used his knack for interior design to decorate bedrooms and dining rooms. Accepting that he will not be able to do things he once enjoyed has been as challenging psychologically as learning new life skills has been physically. 

“I liked decorating rooms with my own style. Now I can't do that anymore,” he said. “Before the accident, I used to enjoy hanging out with my friends. I used to drive my friends around, and now I can't drive anymore. I used to love playing soccer, and now I can't play anymore.”

The cultural differences and the language barrier Nasir has faced since coming to the United States have also been significant challenges. He explained that while staff members and his fellow trainees have welcomed him, offered him help and tried to make him feel comfortable, it is difficult for him to get to know people and make friends.

“I'm not comfortable sometimes because I'm not able to speak the language here,” he said. “I have learned a little English, but I wish I knew more. I have a translator, so this has helped me communicate with the staff and other trainees.

“I hang out with the other trainees, but I don't consider them my friends. I'm not really able to get to know them...and I have to get to know someone before I consider that person a friend.
“I have made friends with people in the community, several Arabic-speaking professors from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and several people from Iraq who attend the mosque. They take me shopping, take me out to dinner, and bring me dinner sometimes.”

Nasir is scheduled to complete his training and return to Iraq in June. He acknowledged his goals have changed since the bombing, but he wants to return to the police force in a computer-related capacity and has dreams of one day getting married and raising children.

“I don't have goals anymore -- except I still have hope that maybe one day I will get my sight back, even though the doctors say I won't,” he said. “But I have two choices: either live or die. I want to live my life and accept everything that has happened to me. If I don't deal with everything and accept it, then I will go crazy. I pray for God to help me deal with my situation, and I get support from my friends.

Nasir admitted he is angry about losing his vision, but he is attempting to meet the new challenges in his life and maintain a healthy, spiritual perspective. He does not blame God for his situation and the bombing has not negatively affected his faith.

“I never ask God why it happened to me,” he said. “There is a verse in the Koran that basically says whatever happens to you, you should thank God for it because it's a gift. Everyone I meet gives me encouragement and I believe this comes from God. I just have to keep going and be patient.”