I operated on a toddler without anaesthesia – it still haunts me

I will never forget the cries, nor the fear in his eyes, when I had to operate on an 18-month-old child, Ahmed, without anaesthesia because Israel severely restricted it from entry into Gaza.

A bomb blast to his tent had left him with a significant burn and he had to be transferred to us at Nasser Hospital, south of Gaza. If we didn’t operate, he would have died.

Thankfully, the operation went well and we managed to remove the dead tissue and save his life, but he will have massive scars.

As an NHS plastic and reconstructive surgeon who went to Gaza in July this year for three weeks, the realities are worse than you can imagine.

Incidents like these are what I recounted to the French President Emmanuel Macron during a United National General Assembly event in New York City last month. I wanted to show him that these children are cherished individuals and they must have their rights to international laws recognised.

The first time I went to Gaza was in March, 2023, as part of an international partnership to train future plastic surgeons. The doctors on the ground were already skilled and dedicated

Getting access to Gaza for a second time was a process full of uncertainty, as Israel can turn you away at the last moment. It took a whole day to travel from Jordan to Gaza due to the checkpoints and border control crossing.

I was one of 29 humanitarian workers travelling in a UN convoy and when we finally entered Gaza, it was a wasteland – grey and crumbling. It was clear to see the farms had been destroyed and the contrast was stark from the lush greenery of Israel.

I actually drove past the hotel I stayed in 2023 and it was now in rubble and unrecognisable.

I worked alongside my Palestinian colleagues and two other British plastic surgeons in Nasser Hospital. Heartbreakingly, most of our patients were children.

One little girl had her skull shattered by a quadcopter drone – an aircraft with a machine gun on it – and it left a wound exposing her brain. We treated her, but she was slowly starving to death because medicinal liquid food is severely restricted from entry.

Another girl was shot in the knee near the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid site and needed an amputation. There were no prosthetics so she will not be able to walk, which is devastating because I was told she loved to play football.

On top of that, we treated four girls under 10, who all had terrible burns. They will develop thickened hard scars that will stop their joints from moving.

Two brothers were burnt alive in their tent by a bomb that killed their parents and four siblings. The lack of clean water and medical supplies meant that they eventually died of sepsis, but they likely would have survived if they had been in the UK.

Then there were the relentless attacks on healthcare workers and infrastructure.

Of the 18 doctors I trained with to become board-certified plastic surgeons, two were killed in Gaza in the last two years and two are still missing. They are four of over 1,500 healthcare workers killed, unlawfully detained, or missing since October 7, 2023, according to Healthcare Workers Watch.

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I was devastated to leave after three weeks because it was very hard to leave my friends and colleagues who are the true heroes of what the UN Commission last month deemed a genocide. I think about them every day and fear that they have been killed too.

But still, I would return to Gaza. That is because my colleagues, friends, and patients are in need of medical support. 

In the aftermath of my second visit, I knew I needed to try to tell the world what was happening. 

Over 250 journalists have been killed, more than in any other conflict – ever recorded. So it has become the responsibility of international healthcare workers to bear witness.

So I joined the other voices calling for the same things: An immediate ceasefire, unfettered aid to Gaza, and sanctions to stop it.

On top of the event with Macron, I had to speak on behalf of the Palestinians as Dr Younis Al-Khatib, the president of the Palestinian Red Crescent, was not allowed out of the occupied West Bank by Israel. 

This meeting was hosted by British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper and attended by world leaders. I shared stories about my patients, children, pregnant women, and fathers with life-changing limbs blown off, burns, and shrapnel embedded in their bodies.

By the end of the meeting, many of the foreign ministers were in tears.

I knew that, despite recognition of countless Israeli Government violations of international humanitarian law, there had been no real meaningful action. So I stood up and asked them with my own voice to act.

I asked them to think of the people dying because I believe Israel is using starvation and denial of medical equipment as a weapon against Palestinian people. Then I asked them to stop arming this war and to follow international law.

World leaders cannot keep on calling for action – they must take it. They are failing Gaza, yet countries like Spain and Italy are beginning to step up.

The UK has taken positive steps through recognition of a Palestinian state and now that the Labour Party conference has voted in favour of accepting the UN findings of genocide in Gaza, the Government must do more to ensure we do not remain complicit. But it will be the people who will force their governments to act. 

Every time I am exhausted or worn out, I close my eyes and see Ahmed’s face, feeling his limp body sunken into mine as I held him after his operation was over. 

The world is waking up and it is evident for everyone to see.

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Ross.Mccafferty@metro.co.uk. 

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