Saleh
Iraq to United States · 2003–Present
In 2003, nine-year-old Saleh Khalaf picked up what he thought was a ball. It was a bomb, left behind in the opening days of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.
The blast took one hand, most of the fingers on the other, an eye, and tore open his abdomen — injuries so severe his heart stopped seven times on the operating table, earning him the nickname "Lionheart" for refusing to die.
I began photographing Saleh's story as he was brought to the United States for life-saving treatment, and the early chapters of that work earned me the Pulitzer Prize in 2005.
I’m still telling Saleh’s story today. He is now a husband and father, building a life as a refugee in America while navigating limited access to prosthetics, the search for steady work, and a home for his family.
What began as one boy's survival has grown into a longer story about the long-term effects of war and the struggle and determination it takes to heal both physically and emotionally.
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