Quadratullah Wardak, 17 months old

Heartbreaking news: The Afghan toddler who underwent successful heart surgery in the U.S., and returned home just two days ago, has died unexpectedly:

Capt. Michael Roscoe, an Army medic who examined the boy’s body, said the his death is “like the loss of our own child.” Roscoe said that the cause of death was unknown. Afghan culture does not allow for autopsies. Relatives said the family has taken the body home to be buried.

The toddler had been escorted back to Afghanistan by U.S. troops earlier this week. More than 100 adults cheered his return to a refugee village Wednesday.

According to his father, 17-month-old Qudratullah Wardak awoke with his heart racing in the middle of the night. The boy’s heart stopped before he could be taken to a nearby U.S. military camp.

Roscoe said Qudrat, as the boy was known, still had glitter in his hair from the homecoming party. The medic said the boy’s heart apparently gave out.

Roscoe said that Qudrat may have suffered arrhythmia — a fluttering of the heart. Also, rigors of the boy’s recent travels — he had just left Indianapolis on Monday and returned to Afghanistan on Wednesday — may have taken a toll.

Roscoe told television station RTV6 in Indianapolis that he checked on Qudrat on Thursday and that the boy “looked better than he has ever looked.”

The boy was at a camp near Kabul last September when Roscoe found numerous heart defects. He was flown to the United States with his father, Hakim Wardak, and underwent surgery on March 8 at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis…

After learning of Qudrat’s death, U.S. Army medics went to the refugee camp where Qudrat’s family is staying. Qudrat’s family, friends of the family and soldiers gathered around the boy’s body, which was placed on a bed outside the family’s tent.

One of the medics who was there, Maj. Landry Foley of the Indiana National Guard, fought back tears as she described the scene. Foley had traveled with Qudrat and his father to Indianapolis.

“He was so peaceful-looking and had a little smile on his face,” Foley said. “I can walk away with that.”

More details from the Indianapolis Star:

At a news conference for Indianapolis journalists who accompanied Qudrat home, [public affairs officer Maj. Eric] Bloom barely made it through the announcement of Qudrat’s death. He asked for questions, but no one could muster one. The group of journalists began sobbing; it took 10 minutes for the reporters and photographers, all of whom had grown fond of the engaging baby, to collect themselves.

NBC5 has a moving slideshow of Qudratullah’s last days. He touched many lives and brought out the best in people in two vastly different worlds. Keep him and his family in your prayers, and hug your own babies a little harder tomorrow.

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How to help Qudrataullah’s family

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