MIAMI -- A Yugoslavia teenager who underwent a series of surgeries at Miami Children's Hospital to repair a face disfigured by a gun accident may have died in the fighting in his homeland, it was reported Thursday.
Friends of Mirsad Culov told The Miami Herald the boy died May 14 in a bomb attack by Serbian troops on the Bosnian town of Gorazde where the Culovs lived.
Mirsad came to Miami almost three years ago at age 12, wearing a mask over his face to cover the disfigurement he suffered in a gun accident. The then-government of Yugoslavia sent him to Dr. Anthony Wolfe, a surgeon internationally known for his work with children.
Wolfe began the process of rebuilding Mirsad's face and over the next two years the boy underwent more than a dozen operations.
Mirsad and his father lived in an apartment near the hospital and when money from their government ran out the hospital and Wolfe donated their services.
As soon as Mirsad had the beginning of a mouth he began to teach himself English. He played soccer, went fishing, watched television and went to Disney World.
A neighbor, Phyllis Curtiss, treated the boy like a son. She and her husband gave him a bicycle and taught him to swim. Once Mirsad told her: 'I'd give you a kiss, if I could.'
At the end of last year Mirsad had a new nose, lips and a jawbone fashioned from a rib.
Wolfe decided Mirsad should go home to allow the bones in his face to finish growing before additional surgery was done. The boy and his father returned home Jan. 16.
'I didn't realize how vicious things were going to become there,' Wolfe told the newspaper.
This spring, Serbian troops blockaded Mirsad's town and power and water were cut off.
In April, Curtiss reached Mirsad by telephone and he told her the family was sleeping with guns under their pillows and preparing for war. He told her the family was being deliberately starved and was eating grass and leaves.
July 27, Mirsad's 15th birthday, telephone service was cut off and Curtiss' letters were returned unopened.
Ana Bosnjak, another close friend, said a month ago one of Mirsad's cousins called from Germany to tell her the boy had been killed when Serbian troops hurled a fragmentation grenade into a group of children and teenagers.
Curtiss said she still clings to hope Mirsad escaped death. Through yard sales she has raised $2,003 to help pay for his return to Miami so he can resume his surgeries. She is not ready to accept his death.
'I just prefer not to think so,' she said.
Shortly after his return home Mirsad wrote to Wolfe and the hospital.
'My heart wants to thank you for all you have done for me,' the letter said. 'I came to Miami 2 years ago a scared, skinny boy of 12, ashamed to be seen. Now I have the beginning of a nose and a small round hole where I will one day have a mouth.
'My mind is full of hope with the promise of coming back to Miami when I have grown more,' the letter said.
The embassy in Washington said it cannot confirm or deny reports of Mirsad's death. Officials said casualty lists are not being kept and communication with Bosnia has been broken.
