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“Giacomo, why don’t you say hello?”
I met Ahlam for the first time in June, in a refugee camp near Mosul. She was with her parents and her little brother. When they came in the room my stomach went into a knot. Ahlam was in her father’s arms, both her legs amputated. She seemed so fragile and helpless, she looked like…
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“I buried her with my own hands”
Hanan comes from Salah al-Din, one of the southern Iraqi provinces invaded by ISIS. She arrived at the Ashti refugee camp with almost all her family. Almost all, because there’s someone she didn’t manage to bring with her. Almost all, because when she fled through her back garden with her children, she would have needed…
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They are both 13 and come from the same city
They are both 13 and come from the same city, Mosul, but until a few days ago they didn’t know each other. Unfortunately, Ghofran and Akram have another thing in common: they both lost a leg to a bombing while they were playing in their homes. Today, Ghofran and Akram play together, in the garden…
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“The little girl was the first off the ship”
Nine months old. She arrived yesterday morning at the port of Pozzallo, along with her mother and 296 other people, aboard the Irish ship Le Niamh. ‘The little girl was the first off the ship, accompanied by her mum. She was in a very bad way, with dyspnea and arrhythmia. As she was taken away…
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“Don’t cry, don’t cry in front of her”
Through the hospital room window, I see the leaves blowing in the wind. We moved here so he could die in peace. But what should have been the last touch he felt, keeping him company right till the end, feels like it’s lasting for ever. The only thing I want is for him to let…
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The silent scream of J.
J. is 25 years old. She’s one of the survivors of the shipwreck from 6 November, 30 miles off the Libyan coast. Two days later, they landed in Pozzallo. I meet her at the harbour, together with the rest of the EMERGENCY team. She gets off the ladder that connects the ship to the dock…
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Isn’t this the definition of art?
One of our little patients made this masterpiece. Her perspective, from her hospital bed, showing doctors making their rounds: people from all around the world work here, together, to make a positive impact on her life and the one of many other patients. This is an interpretation of something beautiful and meaningful, both for her…
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Attacks in Kabul
On Tuesday, truck and car bombs hit police stations and government buildings in several Afghan provinces, and were followed by armed clashes. Even in Kabul, the capital, there have been explosions. Dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries, with many civilians among them. Thirty-eight wounded patients were taken to our Kabul Surgical Centre — another…
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“How can you manage to do all this?”
A few days ago, EMERGENCY were invited to take part in one of the most important meetings on cardiology on the African continent: the Pan-African Society of Cardiology’s yearly conference in Khartoum, Sudan. Alessandro, our Medical Coordinator, reported the results of the first ten years at the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery: over 7,000 operations…
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Invisible wounds
S lives in the province of Teramo with her parents. After the first tremor in 2016, she didn’t want to stay there alone any more. Every new tremor made her relive the terrible memory. O has suffered from polio all her life. After the earthquake, living alone became even harder for her. ‘If there’s another…