How Two Enemy Soldiers Saved Each Other, Over 20 Years Apart

In the brutalities of the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, two soldiers on opposite sides formed an unlikely bond. In 1982, Iraqi forces captured the Iranian city of Khorramshahr. In response, Iran plotted to retake the city. Shortly after that battle began, Najah Aboud, from southern Iraq, was severely wounded in the head, chest, and back. Crawling to a bunker, he prepared for the death that seemed inevitable. At the same time, 13-year-old Zahed Haftlang had run away from an abusive home in Tehran, Iran and was a militia medic for Iran. When Iran recaptured Khorramshahr in May 1982, Zahed was ordered to go into the bunkers to treat Iranian soldiers. It was there he heard Najah moaning in pain. Each man suspicious of the other, Zahed reached into Najah's breast pocket and pulled out a photo of the wounded man with his girlfriend and her infant during happier times. In that moment, Zahed decided to risk his life to help Najah. Fast forward 20 years. Both men had gone on to become prisoners of war, and then came out of war to learn they'd lost their loved ones. Zahed somehow ended up across the globe in Vancouver, Canada. Homeless and suicidal, he was flipping through a magazine when another man entered the room. It was Najah. This time, he was the one unexpectedly saving Zahed. More in this goosebump-raising account that originally aired in 2014, as well as a 2015 documentary.

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