British doctor restores hope for Gaza war victims
Reageer (0)by Fares Akram, Hamoudi Gharib
17-12-2009
GAZA -- Nidal Faqawi thought he would never be able to walk again, after he had one of his legs injured during Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter.
But the 22-year-old could now move his wounded leg, after a successful operation by the visiting British surgeon Chris Bulstrode, who works with Medecins Du Monde, a French medical charity.
Faqawi's family felt relieved after the successful operation. They had struggled to send Nidal to a hospital outside Gaza, but failed to get a travel permit.
Gaza's hospitals have been suffering from the lack of equipment and expertise ever since Israel imposed the sanctions in response to Islamic Hamas movement's taking over of the coastal Strip.
"The cases I've seen so far are the most complicated I have ever encountered in my career," Bulstrode said in an exclusive interview with Xinhua TV.
He said he came to Gaza to double check the injuries and to provide advice when possible.
"Local doctors and nurses are working very hard but still they lack proper equipment," he added.
Bulstrode, who served as a clinical reader in orthopedic surgery in the University of Oxford, has already operated on 9 Palestinians, injured during the Operation Cast Lead war that lasted from December 2008 to January 2009.
The nine operations were successful, while 10 other operations were put on the waiting list.
"All these cases have received operations before, but unfortunately those operations were not very successful," Abu Daqqa said.
A Palestinian medical team is assisting him after he offered a short training course to them.
Many families are waiting for the doctor to take a look at their children's cases. Bulstrode did not reject any requests for operation.
"He has highly valid experience in orthopedic surgery," said Palestinian doctor Marwan Abu Daqqa who was assigned to help Bulstrode in his operations.
On Tuesday, Bulstrode operated on a young girl who had a shrapnel injury in her left leg. Her father said that the first surgical operation for his daughter did not succeed and she needed constant help from her family members to move around.
Abu Daqqa said that the reason for the first operation's failure was that small fragments remained in the girl's leg. Bulstrode simply removed the fragments so that the girl could walk again.
The British doctor's charity operation in Gaza has also saved the patients' families from paying unaffordable operation fees.
"I am very happy that my brother will finally be able to walk and live a normal life," Faqawi's younger brother Ahmed said in an interview with Xinhua TV.
"I call upon all the international community to send their doctors here to Gaza because the medical conditions in Gaza are miserable," the boy said.
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