How Dr William Novick Is Fixing Iraq S Bleeding Heart
On the seventh floor of Karbala’s modern Al-Kafeel Super Specialty Hospital, in a white-tiled operating room, Dr. William Novick has Dua, a 12-year-old girl from Baghdad, on the table with her chest cavity clamped open. Alongside three Iraqi doctors, the surgeon is struggling to repair the girl’s failing artificial heart valve. The room is quiet and cool, an icy cocoon insulated from Iraq’s desert heat sweltering just outside. After eight hours of work, Novick pushes away from the table and peels off his bloodied blue surgical gloves....