Enemies and Angels: Opposing Soldiers Who Saved Each Other

When Najah Aboud got wounded during the Iran-Iraq war, he crawled into a bunker to die. It was there that the Iraqi soldier was found by Iranian medic, Zahed Haftlang. Zahed made a split-second decision: to save his enemy's life. So he risked his own twice to get Najah to a field hospital.

Neither man knew that nearly twenty years later, and on the other side of the world, a breathtaking coincidence would reunite them in another life-saving encounter.

**This episode originally aired on December 23, 2014.

Ideas1:13How a photo saved a life

Zahed Haftlang was an Iranian soldier clearing a bunker in the Iran-Iraq war when he came across a gravely wounded Iraqi, Najah Aboud. This excerpt is the moment Zahed decided to risk everything and save his enemy's life

This story first came to our attention in an article titledBlood Brotherspublished in Vancouver Magazine written by Vancouver journalist,Timothy Taylor.

For more on the story of Zahed and Najah, including videos and photos, go to the Maclean`s article His Brother'sKeeper

**This episode was produced by Greg Kelly

Watch the trailer for the award-winning short documentaryMy Enemy, My Brotherby Canadian filmmaker Ann Shin

Watch the full documentary: