Surfing the Mines Advisory Group I came across this picture of the site in Kifri where the accident happened:



It's the first time since I was injured that I've seen a picture of the spot. Jim went back there a couple of weeks ago and took some photos but they haven't arrived yet. Just this one photo stirs up a whole hornet's nest of emotions for me. Near this spot my life changed irrevocably in an instant. Near this spot my friend Kaveh was cut to pieces and killed by a landmine. As I lay beneath our jeep seconds after the blast that blew part of my foot off, I thought this scene could be the last thing I ever saw. I was lucky to leave there alive, let alone conscious and lucid.

It's still hard for me to look at this picture for any length of time. I know it looks bland and unexciting but that's just the point. On April 2nd, at this unremarkable place, an accident happened that I will remember every day of my life.

Discuss "Beyond Northern Iraq"