Armless Syrian boy thrives in US, hopes family can join him

SHARON, Mass. – A Syrian boy who lost his arms in a refugee camp bomb blast is thriving in his new life in Massachusetts. But the fate of the family he left behind to seek medical treatment in the U.S. remains uncertain.

Over the past year, 11-year-old Ahmad Alkhalaf has attended Democratic President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union, been fitted for prosthetic arms and enrolled in the local public school. He’s also learned to live with his disability, taking swimming, gymnastics and martial arts lessons.

But his father worries what the future holds for the rest of the family he’s trying to bring to the U.S.

Republican President-elect Donald Trump has promised to slow the influx of Syrian refugees into the country or curtail the flow of Muslim immigrants altogether.