File:USMC-17954.jpg

English: U.S. Navy Lt. Mark Rasmussen, a Navy medical officer from Visalia, Calif., assists U.S. Navy medical director, Cmdr. Tara J. Zieber, as she administers medical care to 12-year-old Hadael Hamade, from Karabilah, Iraq � a city of about 30,000 near the Iraq-Syria border. Hadael is in desperate need of life-saving surgery in order to live, according to U.S. Navy physicians who have treated her on occasion in recent months. Hadael suffers from a disease called �Oxalosis,� which causes permanent kidney failure. A recent shipment of medicine to help buy time for the girl was recently donated through U.S. non-government agencies and is helping to keep her alive, until an organ donor can be found to fix her deteriorating health. Hadael�s case has recently garnered attention in the U.S. after several non-profit organizations and a congressman from California learned of her situation. Her case was first brought to their attention upon the death of Lance Cpl. Aaron W. Simons, a rifleman with the Marines serving in Karabilah. After befriending Hadael�s family, Simons was killed in combat. Just days before his death, Simons vowed to help Hadael. Of seven children, Hadael is one of three who remain alive in her family today. Four died from �Oxalosis.�