From Afghanistan to the US: Afghan boy's journey and lifelong bond with his surgeon

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 17, 2024 : Despite their differences in nationality, language, religion, culture and even generation, a congenital limb deficiency became the shared connection between Benjamin Allen, an American orthopedic surgeon, and his Afghan patient, Yahya Noristani. The story that brought these two people from opposite corners of the world together is the kind that could inspire a movie. Born in 1947 in California to a farming family, Dr. Allen, one of four children, came into the world with a significantly shorter right leg and a dislocated hip due to the limb deficiency known as hemimelia. (Footage by Celal Güneş /Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)