A 6-year-old Afghan boy born with his bladder outside his body has been reunited with the U.S. soldier who arranged for his rare operation in a New Jersey hospital.

Army Maj. Glenn Battschinger of Mays Landing, N.J., was on foot patrol in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, in April 2010 when he came across Muslam Hagigshah, a frail child who had to constantly hold his leaking bladder in his hand.

A volunteer host family, along with doctors and nurses in New Jersey, taught the boy, who once was an outcast in his own country, to trust again — and saw him play for the first time — during his months in the US.

(WATCH the video below or read it in New Jersey.com)