AKRON, Ohio -- An 11-year-old Iraqi boy whose legs were blown off below the knees by a bomb blast near his home underwent surgery today in Akron to prepare for prosthetic legs.

Doctors say Majid Fadhil Sabor needed the surgery done at Akron Children's Hospital to remove bone shards that would otherwise make wearing prosthetic limbs painful.

SLIDESHOW: Iraqi Boy's Legs Blown Off By Bomb

Sabor lives about 100 miles from Baghdad.

Doctors expect him to recover from today's operation within 10 days. A specialist on the team said the boy could be walking within one month.

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Iraqi Boy Recovering

While in the United States, Majid is staying with Sosebee, the founder of a Kent-based humanitarian group called The Palestine Children's Relief Fund.

"In February of last year, he was walking with his cousin and was injured by an explosive device," said Steve Sosebee of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund. "We're not sure if it was a landmine or cluster bomb or whatever, but something exploded that killed his cousin and took his two legs."

Majid is the first victim of war to receive free health care in the United States.