Doctor recalls slain Palestine nurse’s bravery
dubai — Along the fence dividing the Gaza Strip from Israel lie a bunch of tents of volunteers who drag injured demonstrators away from the danger zone to provide necessary help using basic medical tools.
One of the young women in white paramedic’s uniform was Razan Al Najjar, the 21-year-old volunteer emergency medical worker who was recently shot dead as she tried to aid a demonstrator, during the ongoing Palestinian protest campaign.
“Razan was a very outspoken and proud woman. She was sure of her role and what she could do to contribute on ground,” said Dr Marc Sinclair, a Dubai-based paediatric orthopaedic surgeon who founded the Little Wings Foundation charity that treats children in Palestine.
He met Razan during his last visit to Khan Younis in the Southern Gaza strip to provide medical assistance to children who have musculoskeletal deformities in last April.
She was the 119th Palestinian killed since the protests began in March, according to Gaza health officials.
“Razan was remembered for her speech and the way she always talked about her determination to show the world what Arab women can do. She had a quite strong personality that stood out,” said Sinclair.
Razan, he added, had been previously injured during the protests, but it didn’t restrain her from continuing her work until the last breath.
Sinclair added that young female nurses who work with basic medical tools like a saline solution and medical gas supply operate the tents that lie 150 metres away from the fence.
“They have no medicines, antibiotics or blood,” said Sinclair. “They provide emergency aid to demonstrators, pick up the injured, sometimes dead, demonstrators to check their wounds.”
Patients are then sent to Khan Younis hospital that lies 200 metres away from the frontline where about seven ambulances are lined up, ready to pick up the injured closer to the frontline.
The hospital sometimes receives over 170 casualties on an afternoon, placing its resources on an end.
“The enthusiasm of these girls at the borders is inspiring; The way they dedicate their time to help, get out on field confidently despite the risks, as if ready for a battle, to bring wounded demonstrators in.”
The message from Al Najjar’s death, Sinclair said, is that no one is exempted from the risk. “You truly understand the level of danger when you hear about a young paramedic dying while doing her job. You get to understand that everyone is targeted.”
He described the protests by the Gaza border as a “David and Goliath” situation. “On one side, you have kids with slingshots and people who burn tyres, and on other side, there’s sophisticated
army of snipers and soldiers,” said Sinclair.
As part of his Dubai-based Little Wings Foundation, Sinclair flies to Gaza twice a year with a team of 10 doctors and nurses from the UAE and abroad to provide medical assistance to children who have musculoskeletal deformities, in partnership with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).