31 August 2016
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and our sister charity IDEALS responded to a preponderance of complex limb injuries by sending British surgical teams to Gaza during the 2014 conflict and in the two years since. They have provided operations for injured Palestinians and on-the-job training for Palestinian medics at Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa.
This project saw major success this year with the establishment of a permanent Limb Reconstruction Unit at Al Shifa, staffed and run entirely by a dedicated team of Palestinian surgeons, nurses and technicians.
We met up with the team and talked to them about their work and life in Gaza.
Name: Dr Essam Al Haddad
Age: 41
Job: Orthopedic consultant and Head of spine surgery in Al Shifa hospital.
Lives in Gaza City, and is married and has one five-year-old child, Abdelrahman.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
“I wanted to study medicine since I was a child and I did.”
What are your hobbies?
“One of my hobbies is swimming. If I cannot swim I love to be close to nature like at the beach. I also like drawing and football. Those things make me relax and I really need it in my life because it gives me a push to be able to continue my work. I feel that it takes the stress and tension away.”
What ritual do you have each day starting your work?
“I go every day to the hospital and I have Friday and Saturday as weekends. On the weekends I go to the beach in the morning and I spent two hours by myself, then I go to the market and spend the day with my family.”
What do you do before each operation?
“Each surgery and each patient is different from the other. Before each surgery I make a plan on how to succeed. We make an X-ray of the patient before the surgery to decide what they exactly need. I prepare all this one day ahead of the surgery.”
Is there a patient you treated who left an impact on you?
“Many patients have left an impact on me. But I remember one guy called Abdallah. He had an explosive injury and was in a very precarious condition when he entered the intensive care unit. The only solution was to amputate his leg but his family refused that in the first place. I knew that without an amputation, the infection would kill him."
"With the help from the IDEALS team that support us through MAP UK, we managed to convince Abdallah's family that this was indeed the best solution and the decision that any doctor would take. We conducted the surgery and at the end his health became much better, he was smiling again and he gained weight. He even got married and had children.”
What inspires you to continue your work?
“What inspires me is that people in Gaza need us and people need my specialization, because a lot of accidents happen affecting the spine. There is only one other doctor besides me who does spinal surgeries. I feel it is my responsibility to help those people and that makes me come to the hospital at any time for emergencies.”
What’s your most beautiful memory?
“One of my happiest memories was when my first child was born after ten years of trying. The day he was born I was having an exam of the medical board in Syria in which I succeeded.”
You’re a hero to many people, who are your heroes?
“My role model in my work is doctor Abdal Moeen Baku, he’s Iraqi British, who immigrated long time ago from Iraq to the UK and has a British fellowship. He became a famous doctor."
"I once met him, he asked me to work and train with him. I learnt spine surgery from him. He manage his time very well and combines work and sports but he still never feels tired and he gives patients his full attention and that really inspired me.”
If you would like to support the work of the Gaza Limb Reconstruction Unit, please consider a donation today.
Featured image: Doctor Essam Haddad shows an X-Ray for one of his patients who had a surgery recently, in Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.