Pedestrians walk near a building heavily damaged by the war on ISIS in Mosul, Iraq.
His expression proud as he stands on the stoop of his neighborhood mosque, Abdulwahab Saleh Hamid exchanges a few words with his friends. He sports a white dishdasha, the traditional uniform for Iraqi men. “Who caused my hearing loss?” he asks, voice trembling with anger."War doesn't care if you're rich or poor. Everyone is the same when faced with a bombshell."
Abdulwahab Saleh Hamid, 57, lost his hearing after his house was destroyed by a missile in April 2017, during the war on ISIS.
Patients arrive at the ENT unit of Mosul's general hospital to consult medical personnel.
Among those present is Sabah Shehab Ahmed, 50, who lived next to a textile factory that got bombed in March 2017. “Ten bombshells fell on the factory,” he recalls, “And my ears imploded from the force of the explosions.” A man of modest means, Ahmed just spent over $17 USD—the equivalent of two days’ work—to take a tonal audiometry test at Mosul’s general hospital and buy a few medications. “The war killed me when I lost my hearing,” he says.Sporting a white medical coat, Dr. Naser explains that in the best of circumstances, these patients suffer a tympanic perforation, which can heal on its own—or else severe damage to the auditory nerve. “The nerves can’t be repaired. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever,” he says. Affixing a hearing device to the ear can help, but unfortunately the hospital has none to offer due to lack of funds.“All we can do is examine the patients to see what level of hearing they have; we can’t offer any hearing devices or treatments,” explains Saadallah Abdulaziz Khuder, head of the Mosul general hospital. “People with money can get them at specialty stores.”"The war killed me when I lost my hearing."
Aqeel Qais Saadaldean, 13, has been 60 percent deaf in both ears since his home was destroyed by an airstrike in 2017, in Mosul, Iraq.