Show Elissa Montanti— with no money or political connections— began an international cmsade to help children maimed in wars She did it the only way she knew how r oro fonned the living room pf her cozy townhouseinto a secondbcdnxxii“V bonded into£ family” Montanti 3 sayi “Kenan would wake up screaming and I com- y HE E MAIL WITH THIS PLEA fbrted him by telling him that I'd had those feelings too He hasn’t had nightmares— and 1 haven’thad was writtenbytheuncleof ‘ 7V AliAmeetwhosehandwasblownoff panicattacks— since”V flew Montand others V to Sarajevo in when he picked up a landmine m Basra Eagre to help Itbroke Elissa Montand's heart Last May just weeks 1997 to meetwithhealth officials “I raninto resis- after the collapse of Saddam Hussein’s regime this tance because theywanied money to rebuild Bomia’s most unlikely angel of mercy prompted by news rPy infrastructure which would takeyears" she $aysv “Please you not forget the children who see you as their only hope” ‘ ’ ports made her way from her home in Staten Island NY to Iraq to bring childrcn wbff’d lost their limbs totbeUSformedicalcare "'r " v v r " ' “Kids with tenible wounds were lying in dark swel- tering Jspitals with flies buzzing around them no water and no medicine for their pain” says Montanti 45 “I couldn't help them all but I hoped I could make a difference the way I always have—one child at a tune” "A decade ago Elissa Montanti was a hospital lab assistaniwho wrote songs and poetry and sufferedde---- y bilitating anxiety attacksBwt in the years since she created the (BobaLMedical Relief : has single-handed-- haired FbndfGMRF) And this vroman vwtha high'octane smile and : with (dodewiat) fierce determination has provided new artificial limbs— and new bnd Carter Simon 35 childrenworidwide “Hundreds of kids needed help right away” Winning the bade with naysayere and red tapi Montand broitt back an 1 wh( leg had been blown o£f The GMRF has grown steadily since “At fir peo-pledbdn't take Elissa seriously" saysBoro Vukadiiiovic the Bosnian-bopresident of GMRF '‘But I was toudied that anAmerican woman would go to a God- m forsaken town and hug kids with no arms or legs Elissa has a big heart and endless energy” : - - 'j A ShOCStrihg’-T- — v " and 3 pniycr i get to see how generous and v good Amencans are —that's something they'll never forget" u : —EBtsa Montanti ' NyV ' : Unlike other relief organizations which work with-- inavictim’s native countrythe fund's mission is to 'HThese Idds ly ' by a grenade Resulting TV coverage prompted the Philadelphia Shrinen Hospital to donate orthopedic and rehdnlitatioa services 1 tit’s makeamiracle '":ftS:!tSS i lMontanti tiiere In rec V was a void in my lifiethia Ididn’t know Boanian badly injured bya how to fill” However $be had been asked by a local chanty to write a song - V “Let's Make a Miracle” to raise money for children Bosnia When she visited the Bosnian y : m ambassador to ask what else she might do he showed 3 her photographs and a letter from Kenan Malldc then 14A landmine in Bosniahadblownoff his left leg o and both arms binned his torso and shattered his face y 11' IrK war-shatter-ed It was seeing Malkic's devastating injuries that crusade “I had launchedMontantion hre no money no connections" she says Stiff Montanti would not be stopped She persuaded orthopedic sur--y geons and a manufacturerof prophetic limbs to donate their services And Austrian Airlines agreed to pro- -: vide free transport fin the boy and his mother With nowhere else to house them Montanti trans- one-wom- an 3 tetri' - 7 By Dianne Hales lM MO1 10 OeCBHKli If MM MtAOnueAZME |