Indian-Origin Doctor Shares Gaza Horror!
Syed Sayeed, an Indian-origin Plastic Surgeon staying in Gaza, has shared his experience of the horrible situation in the Gaza Strip with the media. In an interview with an Indian media outlet, Dr Sayeed recently said that he used to practice in Long Island, New York (his birthplace) before the beginning of the Israel-Hamas War on October7, 2023. However, he arrived in Gaza, leaving his wife and three children in the US, after considering the traumatic situation in the densely populated territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
While in New York, Dr Sayeed took part in Anti-Israel protests, calling members of the US Congress to put the Joe Biden Administration under pressure (in order to snap defence ties with the Jewish Nation). Later, he decided to help the injured Gazans in crisis period and contacted the voluntary organisation MedGlobal that was sending doctors, surgeons, health workers and volunteers to Gaza. Dr Sayeed informed the press that MedGlobal had sent him to Latin America and Tanzania in the past. However, he was a member of the medical mission in those places during peace time. Now, he is serving people in a war zone!
Dr Sayeed arrived in Gaza via Cairo in April 2024 as a member of a MedGlobal medical team. The team consisted of a total of eight doctors, including experts in internal medicine, general surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons and a nurse. Among the doctors, three were from Australia, two from Pakistan, one from India and two from US (including Dr Sayeed). After the security briefing in Cairo, they crossed the Rafa border to enter Gaza with the World Health Organisation (WHO) medical team.
The US-based doctor of Indian origin has recalled that there was bombardment all around when he reached Gaza. However, he was not afraid as he was eager to perform his professional duty. Dr Sayeed and other members of the medical team took shelter in a safe house situated in a Safe Zone in Gaza. Members of voluntary organisations from all over the world would stay at that house. After spending his first night there, Dr Sayeed joined the Gaza European Hospital and started living in another house right next to the hospital. As each room of that house accommodated four to six doctors, Dr Sayeed had to share his room with local doctors whose family members were living in refugee camps after becoming homeless.
The doctor also recalled that he, initially, used to get food once a day! As Dr Sayeed had no other option, he had to order canned food from outside. “The locals often shared their food with us. Even family members of the patients also gave us food. However, there was an issue related to drinking water because most of the water pipes were destroyed by missiles and bombs,” stressed Dr Sayeed.
Dr Sayeed has claimed that they used to begin their day with a prayer at 9am (local time). The prayer started only after the arrival of nurses or health workers at the Safe House from refugee camps. Resident doctors, mostly students, run the hospital all day, as they are the pillars of the health system in Gaza in the current situation. Resident doctors are the ones who decide when the surgeries would take place, apart from maintaining the instruments, looking after the patients and keeping in touch with their family members. Usually, the time for surgical operations lasted from 9am to 10pm!
According to Dr Sayeed, he, along with an orthopaedic surgeon, used to treat mainly children with various types of injuries, like broken bones, burns and the like. He has revealed that as small bodies, scarred by bombs, were often embedded with splinters, their flesh came out tearing the thin skin during the surgery. He performed surgical operations without proper instruments at the Gaza European Hospital on a number of occasions! In case of burn injuries, Dr Sayeed used iodine solution as much as he could find.
Meanwhile, the doctor has recalled that he failed to save Hala, a three-year-old girl, who was brought in on Dr Sayeed’s second day in Gaza with burns covering over 30% of her body. She suffered the burns after falling into a pot that was being used for cooking near a makeshift tent. As it was not possible to treat her at the Gaza European Hospital, Dr Sayeed made an attempt to bring the girl and her mother to Boston. Although he struggled a lot to make Hala’s passport, he was shifted to another hospital just after he received her passport and the little Palestinian girl perished in an Israeli airstrike on the European Hospital within a week! The doctor has further recalled that children used to play inside the hospital.
Currently, Dr Sayeed is posted at AL-Aqsaa Maternity Hospital where there are only a few rooms for surgery. Apart from childbirth, this hospital also offers other forms of treatment for the children. However, there is a dearth of medical equipment and even sterilising the equipment is difficult at this hospital.
After spending his holidays with his family in New York in July 2024, the Indian-origin doctor returned to Gaza yet again!
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Boundless Ocean Of Politics 