Sligo doctor features in television documentary about his work in Iraq
A Sligo doctor will feature in a TG4 documentary, An Bhearna Bhaoil as it follows his work with Médicins Sans Frontiéres – Doctors without Borders in Iraq.
An Bhearna Bhaoil is a story about the humans behind the humanitarians, the sights they see and the toll it takes on them and the reason they keep going back to the frontlines.
It airs on TG4 on Wednesday 19 February 2020 at 9:30pm.
“In Sligo, we meet trainee GP Conor Kenny as he spends his final days in his beloved hometown before flying to Northern Iraq for his next mission. For him coming home means spending time with his family, and watching a Sligo Rovers match from the stands in the Showgrounds.
Far from the beach at Strandhill, we later find ourselves with Conor on the road from Kirkuk to Hawija as he travels the 90 minute commute to work in the Ministry of Health Hospital.
“He explains how, despite the bumps and potholes, the vehicle never moves to the side of the road for fear of undetonated incendiary devices. The fear and anxiety within the population itself is perhaps the most damaging reminder of the recent turmoil.
“With almost two million people still displaced and many health facilities damaged or destroyed, medical needs remain extremely high in Iraq. Hawija until recently had a population of half a million people but up to half of that number left when the area was under ISIS control. Although the population is gradually increasing as people return, the sight through the windows of the moving vehicle tells us all we need to know about the impact war has had on the region. Buildings lie in ruins, and many of Conor’s patients are no longer victims of bullets or bombs, but victims of collapsed structures.