Richland man grateful for new prosthetic leg — and the community’s help

Mushtaq Jihad’s 10-year-old daughter scooped up the inflatable beach ball and hit it hard with her balled-up fist.

“Papa!” Zahraa shouted in delight as the ball arced toward her dad.

Jihad saw it coming. He was ready.

He lifted his right leg and kicked. The ball sailed up, up, up.

Jihad’s daughters — along with Zahraa, he and his wife, Adela, have Fatima, 12, Farah, 6, and Sarah, 2 1/2 — giggled and squealed and scrambled to retrieve it.

He couldn’t help but smile.

In the past year, the 42-year-old Richland man has experienced some extreme highs and lows. The fact that he can kick a ball outside with his daughters — that’s symbolic of perhaps the greatest triumph.

A few months back, Jihad received a new prosthetic leg, one that’s lighter and easier to get around than the clunkier models he has made do with in the past. The community pitched in, raising more than $20,000.

Jihad also has a job. He’s working part-time at some Richland 7-Eleven stores, stocking, cleaning and the like.

He’s grateful for the work, he said. And for the new leg.

“When people helped me with my leg, it was big for me, seriously,” he told the Herald this week.

It was one of the best things that ever happened to him, he said.

The Herald first featured Jihad, who had owned a string of electronics stores in his home country of Iraq, in January.

He told of being kidnapped for ransom by members of a militia group.

He escaped, but then was targeted for retaliation after he pursued his kidnappers in court, he said.

A blast set by the group took his right leg — and also his infant son, Jihad said. He was taking the baby boy, who was just a few days old, to a doctor’s appointment when they were rocked by an explosion outside their home.

That was April 2007. Jihad came to the U.S. as a refugee the following year, along with his wife and three oldest daughters. (Sarah, the youngest, was born in the Tri-Cities.)

Then last year, Jihad was struck by yet another blow: cancer. He was diagnosed with leukemia.

He hasn’t dwelled on his hardships. In the Herald story, he talked about his desire for a better prosthetic leg — one that would enable him to get back to work to support his family.

That would help him show that he’s still strong, still standing tall.

Community fundraisers followed, from a 12th Man picture sale through Badger Mountain Elementary School, where Jihad’s older girls are students, to a yard sale and auction.

The new prosthetic leg came through this summer.

The first time he ran using the leg, there were plenty of happy tears, said Marie Benton, a neighbor and family friend.

But the year has been marked with hard times too.

Jihad’s cancer treatment hasn’t been easy. He’s experienced issues from fatigue to stomach pain, though his doctor said he is responding well and is on his way to remission.

“He is a very resilient person,” said Dr. Iyad Hamarneh, a Trios Health oncologist and hematologist. “He has a very strong desire to live a normal life. He wants to provide for his family. He made that very clear to me.”

Jihad hopes to find a full-time job, he said. He’s applied for several but hasn’t secured one yet.

He also wants to become a U.S. citizen. A legal permanent resident with a green card, Jihad has started the process, but it’s been months and his application apparently hasn’t moved past the investigation phase — another frustration.

A spokesman for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services couldn’t speak specifically about Jihad’s case because of privacy rules but said it’s not unusual for investigations to take months.

Jihad seems determined to keep moving forward in his life, to work toward what he wants.

And he has a message for the community: He’s so grateful.

“The people who helped me with my leg — these people changed my life,” he said.

He hasn’t reached all his goals, but he’s getting there.

Outside with his girls, he kicked the inflatable ball. He smiled.

He ran on the grass, back and forth, his new leg taking him fast and far.

This story was originally published December 24, 2014 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Richland man grateful for new prosthetic leg — and the community’s help."