[female narrator] Coming up on Life on the Line [sound of strong wind] [speaking in heavy accent] [sound of explosion] [dog snarling] WOOOO!

[George Bush] Good luck in life.

You're a courageous guy.

His dream was to go back home, walking, and he's determined that it's gonna happen.

It was not a possibility for him to walk with prosthetics.

But in Malek's mind, this had to be done.

He just doesn't understand and won't accept the notion of giving up.

[inspiring music] [dramatic yet hopeful theme] [dramatic yet hopeful theme] [music] [narrator] As a 15-year-old, Malek often helped his mother by collecting firewood so she could cook dinner for the family, but on this day, he steps onto unknown territory.

[sound of explosion] [narrator] Malek is one of four people who are reported to be injured or killed by land mines every day in Afghanistan.

[sound of chanting] [narrator] Months after his accident, Malek found himself at a rehab clinic where he met someone who would change the course of his life.

Mark Ward was the head of the bureau for USAID.

On that particular day, we walked in to the physical therapy room, and there was a young man in there.

He's just been fitted with these new prosthetic legs, and today is the first time he's trying to walk on those new legs.

We sort of locked eyes.

By the time he had taken a couple of steps, trying to get to me, it was very clear, it hurt a lot.

And we're all pleading with him to stop.

But he kept going.

Tears are coming out of his eyes.

By this point, everybody in the room has tears in their eyes.

He sort of flew into my arm.

I had two sons about the same age, and I started to think, how can we help him?

[narrator] Malek would need more surgeries and high-tech prosthetics in order to have a chance to walk again.

Mark contacted Loma Linda University Health in Southern California.

and one year later, Malek was on a plane with hopes of making his dream to walk again come true.

When we first saw Malek, the team's recommendation was, was not to treat um, with prosthetic legs, 'cause we don't think that's possible.

We were just gonna get him what we call "shrinkers," they're just a tightening sock to help reduce the swelling.

But, it wasn't just the loss of limbs that was concerning, it was all the other injuries.

Uh, shrapnel in his torso and his arms, and we're really concerned about his hands, 'cause those are so important in his activities of daily living.

When he came to the office, he seemed to be full of energy, but the muscles were not firmly attached to the end of the bone and so it was not a possibility for him to walk with prosthetics right off the bat.

You have to be in extraordinary physical shape.

[talking excitedly] Thank you!

Thank you, mate!

That was the best.

He was cocky, he was a ham.

He had a very good sense of humor.

And this was part of the reason he's still alive.

He just doesn't understand and won't accept the notion of giving up.

[narrator] After a couple of months at the gym, Malek gained the strength he needed to try to walk on prosthetics.

But the land mine shrapnel still inside him caused extreme pain, especially those touching his nerves.

[doctor] Painful piece here, it's firing into his skin graft.

We just have to make a cut, we find it, we take it out.

Shrapnel is always moving, and so, while it may be not touching a nerve today, just by the movement of your body, it moves.

It's very common in land mine injuries.

Number one priority for today is helping him with pain, after the trauma of the land mine blast.

That's his biggest complaint right now, so we're gonna be making two short incisions on his chest and also in his left wrist, to find these pieces of shrapnel.

Quite a bit of debris up here in the arm.

We took out those, you saw the pieces of rock and clothing, and there's actually metal, and so I think that was true shrapnel.

Luckily, at Loma Linda, they were able to get in and remove a lot of it.

[piano music] [knocking on door] How are you?

Are you okay now?

Yes.

Oh, good.

I'm gonna move this one a little bit, okay?

Does that hurt?

No.

No?

Okay, good.

This is healing very nicely.

There's no sign of any infection.

It's healing normally.

[music] [Malek] I'd like you to meet my collleague David.

What made Malek really special is his determination.

In the beginning, his muscles were so tight from sitting in a chair that he was just, was not a candidate for prosthetic legs.

But, after several months of swimming with his life vest, he had stretched out.

Physiologically he was changing in a way that made him a great candidate.

He was staying active and exercising.

Rehab potential started to improve rapidly.

We decided to try him on what's called a hand cycle, and it just suddenly made sense.

We needed to keep his rehab going.

We weren't holding him back.

That, of course, led to the next statement, which was Redlands' Bike Classic is including a hand cycle division, and, I asked him if he wanted to try this race that's coming up.

He had just had this surgery on his wrists.

Of course, he says "Yeah," and it was one of those moments where you get that feeling like somehow this was meant to be.

[Mike] We had two or three weeks to train.

We were concerned, could he do the motion of the hand cycle?

But, the doctor okayed him.

We were all pumped up, this was exciting.

That was sort of when I was thinking, maybe this is too much.

[announcer] Riders, ready!

[starting gun] [announcer] Go!

The start goes and and Malek takes off like a bullet train.

And that's when I realized, I don't think we did a good job of explaining to Malek how far this course is.

'Cause he's acting like it's a sprint.

I don't know how he's gonna survive every lap.

We rode with the Possibilities Group, and it was not an easy ride.

But in Malek's mind this had to be done.

The first cyclists start rolling in, all the others finished.

But we're waiting for him to finish his race.

We were thinking, 'where's Malek?'

Is he injured or hurt, or exhausted?

Is there something wrong?

And all of a sudden, there's sirens.

Police escort.

And here comes Malek, but the women's pro cyclists started lining up.

I feel bad because now Malek can't finish his race because their start is his finish.

Way to go, Malek!

Way to go, Malek!

[applause] Oh.

And the cyclists started moving their bikes so that he could finish his race, and all these ladies start cheering for him.

He did it.

This actually went well.

But we were concerned that he'd overexerted himself.

And he ended up at the medical tent.

Can you guys split that open for me?

Can I get a bottle of water?

Keep breathing, Malek.

Deep breaths.

The challenge of Malek is, we have to listen carefully because he doesn't know when to rest.

Just press on there, okay?

86 Strong regular.

110 over 70.

Once he got some food in him, electrolytes, he began, began to come back and, it was all good.

[Mark Ward] Malek really epitomized what Afghanistan was going through.

At the time he was at Loma Linda, I was traveling with former President Bush, and at one point I talked to him about this young man from Afghanistan because Afghanistan was a country that he cared a lot about.

He seemed very interested in Malek, and his story, and what he was going through, and how he had overcome these two terrible injuries.

I said, "Well, you know, let's, let's bring him to meet you."

How are you?

I'm very okay.

Nice to see you.

I've heard such wonderful things about you.

How are you, sir?

I'm okay.

How are you doing?

Good.

That's the main thing.

Courageous guy like this, here.

How're you doing on your English?

Good.

It's not an easy language to learn, I'm told.

Yeah.

Back when I was president, they told me English was my second language 'cause I spoke so crazily, you know?

He encouraged me a lot.

He said, I hope you will be okay in America.

And, we gave him a small gift.

Ah, yeah.

Very nice.

That's the seal of the president of the United States.

The seal.

He was just very, very touched by the grit and the determination that Malek showed.

Very good to see you.

Nice, and good luck to you.

Good luck in life.

You'll do well.

You're a courageous guy.

Malek once said to me, "The reason I love swimming is it's the one thing that doesn't hurt."

And, he's become a great swimmer, but there's still pain in what is left of his legs.

Many patients getting prosthetic legs, can develop what's called a 'bone spur', can become very sharp and start to rub and, and cause pain.

And in the case of someone like Malek, that can be really troublesome.

Surgery's the only option.

Sometimes the body tries to regrow the nerve, we call it a neuroma.

A bundle of nerves growing now on the surface of the skin and rubbing against the inside of that prosthesis.

And that can be very painful and agonizing.

We took the amputations apart to find the neuromas and to amputate the nerve higher up where the prosthesis would not press on it, and attach the muscles to the bone so that he could use those muscles to direct the prosthetics.

When I touch it, it hurts?

Yeah.

That hurt?

With any kind of amputation, there's gonna be pain involved.

[sound of explosion, then of crying] And, the brain remembers a lot of the pain.

Sometimes we call it phantom pain or phantom sensation, that all patients go through.

They describe it as a pain that feels like the skin is on fire.

And, it can be real tough to manage.

[sound of wailing] [narrator] Despite the pain, Malek pulls through, and the prosthetics team can now start building his new legs.

There's varied steps.

We have to fit him with a specialized sock to protect their limbs once they're in a prosthesis.

How's it feel.

Hurt?

No, it's okay.

No hurt.

None ofthis?

No.

That's good.

For a double amputee like Malek, there was a time where a wheelchair was the standard of care.

Now, you do it.

You pull.

Prosthetics in Afghanistan, they don't have this kind.

Well, the screw here?

There's a little pin that goes in, and that's what the prosthesis attaches to so he doesn't have to have a belt.

Because of technology and new advancements, with the right rehab and the right equipment, doubled above the knee amputee can walk very well.

You okay?

Yes.

Hurt?

No.

Okay.

That doesn't mean it's easy to return them to a quality of life just like that.

We ask all our patients, what are your goals?

And Malek stated that his dream was to go back home, walking, so that he could show his family that Malek was back.

And he's determined that it's gonna happen.

We first put Malek into what we call stubbies, and the stubbies have what we call a rocker bottom.

It just allows them to rock and pivot.

Mike.

Yeah.

The first time I saw my prosthetic leg I got very happy.

Wow.

I like it.

How's it feel?

Good.

Feels good?

Yeah.

So now we started physical therapy to teach Malek how to walk again for the first time, and it can be a little challenging.

So you just gotta be careful.

He started working.

He had walked those parallel bars back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

In a determined way.

Top, top, top.

And he just doesn't give up.

When I fall on ground, I said, Oh, I'm, I feel I, I have my legs.

Is it hard to walk, walking with prosthetic legs.

And, I can control my balance.

Malek joined the short list of people that I know that have profound disabilities.

How's that feel?

Good!

Whew.

But their determination makes that disability almost go away.

In fact, in some ways they're more able than many of us, because we're not always as determined.

[Malek] It was sort of essential for me, and also it was difficult for me to stand and walk again, but I won't give up.

I am very happy, but I ask, 'Can I be a little taller?'

he said, 'Very funny.'

First you learn with this one, in future we will fit you taller."

It wasn't long after that, it becomes realistic to get him to a normal height.

Good job, good job.

Yeah, we can make that work.

Nike.

And it's Nike.

Yeah, okay.

I like Nike.

Malek had access to our parallel bars.

He got really good walking every day, so we decided to introduce knees.

We wanted to be sure that he could walk outside, because it would be a real challenge.

And so, we have playground with a surface that's squishy.

[laughing] It's rubbery because if they do fall, it's safe.

Falling's always the worry.

And so we want to make sure that everybody knows how to fall, when they do.

Oh, shoot.

Then, when they're down, how do they get back up to a standing position?

And so, we spend a lot of time out there teaching him little strategies to get him prepared to use prosthetic devices for paved streets and sidewalks.

But that doesn't mean it's easy for him to navigate.

The terrain in Afghanistan is gonna be a challenge as he moves forward.

When I saw him walking around with his prosthetic devices, it didn't surprise me.

Malek is certainly one of the most determined young people I've ever met.

I'm not the only one that's said that.

George H.W.

Bush said that.

And then he joked and said, "Don't tell my sons I said that."

How are you doin'?

Good.

Give me a hug.

Attaboy.

When I met him again, I was walking with my prosthetic legs.

You do okay on your studies?

Get good marks?

Yeah!

I learn.

Well, you inspire people.

See, that's a good way to do it.

After that, he gave me a small gift.

He said goodbye.

I hope you will be okay in the future.

Put this on, right there.

Thank you.

Very proud of you.

My man, Malek.

[laughter] [music] [narrator] After two years in California, Malek was finally ready to go back to his family in Afghanistan.

[sound of many voices, shouting] I love you too!

[sound of applause and cheering] There ya go.

That's hard.

Good job.

He will always look up to the United States, not just for the technology but for the hugs and the support that gave him the tools that he will use to succeed.

Thank you so much.

[inspiring Afghan music] My name is Malek Mohammad.

[inspiring music] [inspiring music] This program was made possible by the Ralph and Carolyn Thompson Charitable Foundation and Ed and Ann Zinke.