War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Ayman
Meet Dr Mohammed Ayman, a Syrian vascular surgeon and our latest War Doctor Hero.
We first met Ayman back in 2013, when David Nott was volunteering in Alzarour Hospital, Aleppo. Whilst treating patients, David was able to teach Ayman and his team a variety of specialised surgical procedures that Ayman was later able to use to save casualties.
At this time, medical workers and facilities were a target. As Ayman put it, "the hospitals in Aleppo were a kind of magnet for attacks.”
It was too dangerous to go outside as barrel bombs and missiles could fall at any time so Dr Ayman and his colleagues had to work, sleep and eat in their underground hospital.
The heavy siege also meant resources were always in short supply. They lacked the right sutures to stitch up patients and there wasn’t enough food and milk to feed malnourished children. Nonetheless, Dr Ayman did what he could to take care of his patients. “All the Syrian people in Aleppo needed us, so we had to be stronger for them and we had to adapt to the new situation as best we could. We wanted them to always feel that they were not alone.”
One patient that Ayman especially remembers was an 11 month old baby girl. Her father carried her to the hospital after she was wounded in a bomb explosion. She had a severe leg wound and the orthopaedic surgeon wanted to perform an amputation. Fortunately, Dr Ayman knew there was a chance her leg could be saved. He successfully performed a vein bypass to restore the blood supply and later her leg was externally fixated so that the bone could heal properly.
To Ayman’s immense happiness, the little girl recently started walking.
Ayman is one of fourteen surgeons who will be joining us for our next UK-based training course. He hopes that the skills learnt on this course will enable him to better serve the Syrian people when he is able to return to his home country.
You can read about some of our other War Doctor Heroes by clicking here.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Koma
We are delighted to feature Dr Koma Akim, a general surgeon from South Sudan, as our latest War Doctor Hero.
South Sudan is the world's youngest sovereign state, having gained its independence from Sudan in 2011.
Since December 2013, the country has been embroiled in a civil war that has resulted in the displacement of more than 4 million people, and contributed to the endemic poverty that affects 80% of the population. Conflict between nomadic people, particularly over the issues of cattle and grazing rights, has compounded the violence, yet health resources and medical professionals remain scarce.
Dr Akim is one of only a handful of general surgeons in the country, and regularly deals with gunshot and arrow wounds as a result of cattle rustling. Those who make it to his hospital are often in a very bad way, suffering from internal bleeding and broken bones. Without any advanced orthopaedic instruments, Koma must often treat these fractures non-operatively, even though his patients would benefit from external fixators or skeletal traction.
Alongside his work in the district hospital, Dr Akim has also undertaken humanitarian missions in Ganyiel, in the Unity State of South Sudan. Koma recalled performing an emergency C-section for a retained second twin in the midst of the fighting here. In spite of the high maternal mortality associated with this complication, Dr Akim was miraculously able to save the lives of both the mother and her two babies.
These experiences motivated Koma to learn more and enhance his skill set, so that he could continue to alleviate the suffering of ordinary people in his country.
In 2019, Dr Akim attended our London based Surgical Training for the Austere Environment course (STAE). On this training programme, he learnt how to properly expose blood vessels and said “being able to practise it means I have the confidence to do it in a real situation. If I can do it, I can teach it.” This skills-sharing is a vital part of what we as a Foundation hope to achieve. By training one doctor on our course, we give them the knowledge and skills needed to teach countless more.
It is Koma's ambition to become a role model for the next generation of South Sudanese doctors. He hopes to inspire more to become surgeons in order to better serve the people of war torn South Sudan and told us that "my skills and theirs will be more needed here, in South Sudan, than anywhere else in the world."
To help us train more surgeons like Koma, you can make a donation here.
Yemen HEST January 2020
The DNF team, in partnership with MSF Spain, recently returned from our latest mission to Yemen which brought in 31 surgeons from across the country for a specialised five-day training course. Since 2015, Yemen has been the stage of one of the world's worst humanitarian catastrophes. Hundreds of thousands of Yemeni citizens have already lost their lives, and as the fighting continues, many more are in need of urgent medical treatment and supplies. At the front-lines of this conflict are the surgeons and medics who face the challenge of saving lives without losing their own, all the while limited by a lack of resources and insufficient training.
Our Hostile Environment Surgical Training course (HEST) was designed to confront this problem. Over the course of five days, our Faculty, comprising David Nott, Ammar Darwish, Pippa Letchworth, Pete Mathew and Rebekka Troller instructed surgeons on a wide range of trauma topics. By equipping these medics with the necessary knowledge, confidence and skills that they need to treat patients, we can improve the medical outcome for countless people.
The regions where HEST is taught often rule out cadaveric teaching, so the Foundation’s whole body simulator, Heston, was employed for training. This state of the art, bespoke simulator mimics the look and feel of real human flesh and features the full range of organs, blood vessels and key anatomies needed for facilitating learning.
Supporting Heston, we also deployed our neonatal models and our new VR learning experience, which simulates a mass casualty event. This immersive experience focuses on the triage of ten patients using International Committee of the Red Cross categories: serious wounds, second priority, superficial wounds and severe wounds.
To date, the Foundation has trained 803 medics across 28 courses, benefiting an estimated 1.7 million patients. Through this global network of war doctors, we can raise the standard of medical care worldwide and continue to save more lives and limbs. To help us train even more surgeons, you can donate here.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Lucien
Our global network of #wardoctorheroes is at the heart of everything the foundation strives to achieve, and we are proud to introduce Dr Lucien Wasingya Lusenge from Uganda in this latest instalment.
When Lucien was just 3 weeks old, he contracted a febrile disease and his health deteriorated rapidly. His family were beginning to lose hope, and he was referred to another hospital 20km away.
It was here that a volunteer from MSF correctly diagnosed Lucien and successfully treated him in under a week. Lucien's father told him this story dozens of times as he was growing up, inspiring Lucien to become a surgeon and dedicate his own life to saving others.
In April of 2018, the Foundation awarded Lucien a scholarship to come to London and attend our specialised course, Surgical Training for the Austere Environment (STAE). The course greatly boosted Lucien's confidence in dealing with trauma patients and improved his decision-making skills for surgical emergencies. Lucien said, "After only five days, I was able to gain the confidence to handle surgical, obstetric and gynaecological emergencies with limited equipment and resources."
The skills learned on this training course have enabled Lucien to save the lives of countless people, including many victims of traffic collisions on Masaka Road, a dangerous stretch of highway that claims 200-300 lives annually.
In September, Lucien was able to journey to London once again to present his research, and paid David Nott a visit, to thank him in person.
The courage, dedication, and selflessness of doctors like Lucien inspires everything that the Foundation works for, but we cannot do it alone. You can help us to train even more surgeons and save more lives by donating today, and spreading awareness.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Youssef
In this latest instalment of our #wardoctorheroes series, we're proud to introduce Dr Youssef Saab from Lebanon, a surgeon who works just 3km from the Syrian border.
We first met Youssef in 2018, when he attended our overseas HEST course in Beirut. On this specialised surgical training course, Youssef learnt the importance of damage control when dealing with mass casualty incidents. Since then, he has implemented this procedure five times to great success, saving the lives of many patients. Inspired to join MSF, Dr Saab now sees between 50-60 patients each day in the Bekaa Valley refugee camp, close to the border.
Unfortunately, the majority of his patients are child refugees, who, having fled from war, now deal with chronic wounds and burns. As Youssef explained: "War is not just about the acute wounds. Wounds that have not been properly treated, which become infected or that fail to heal properly can be just as deadly."
Alongside these chronic wounds, electric shocks and hot water burns are also commonplace as conditions in the refugee camps remain hazardous, especially for young children.
Dr Youssef recently joined us on our London based STAE course, where he was able to enhance his knowledge across several key areas, including trauma obstetrics, plastic surgery and orthopaedics.
Our War Doctor Heroes series celebrates our global network of surgeons, working in some of the world’s most hostile and austere environments. Their selflessness and bravery inspires everything that the Foundation strives to achieve.
To help us train more surgeons like Youssef, you can donate here.
Taking on the Royal Parks Half Marathon
On 13th October, six runners took on the Royal Parks Half Marathon and were successful in raising over £10,000 for the David Nott Foundation. Their dedication and perseverance means we are now able to fund the training of ten more surgeons working in austere environments. Read more about our fantastic runners below.
Anna-Lucia
A 6th year medical student at the University of Cambridge, Anna-Lucia has a passion for global surgery and has wanted to be a surgeon since before she even applied to med school. Whilst going on runs to train for her first half marathon last March, Anna-Lucia listened to the War Doctor audio book. She was so enthusiastic about it, that she made her entire family read the book and bought it for friends as a birthday present.
Sima
67 year old Sima also took on the 13.1 mile course in support of the Foundation. Though she has previously completed a whopping nine full marathons, this was her first half marathon in five years.
Ameera
Over the last four years, Ameera, a senior A&E nurse, has volunteered with various organisations and has taken unpaid leave with the NHS to work in Lesvos, Iraq and Macedonia. Whilst looking for new NGOs to volunteer with, Ameera came across David's book and was unable to put it down. She was even able to meet David in person at a book signing back in July!
She told us: "David’s experiences and drive to improve training for surgeons in countries of war, conflict and poverty is what motivated me to run for the foundation."
As an added challenge, Ameera also ran the 13.1 mile course in a surgical gown and cap!
Lindsey
After stumbling across David's Desert Island Discs a few years back, Lindsey was deeply touched by Dr Nott's humility and compassion. A medic herself, she said: "Like David I, too, as a senior GP see no borders, no one person better than any other."
Caitlin
Since the Foundation was first started by David and Elly in 2015, Caitlin has been working behind the scenes for us, and is one of our valued trustees. Faced with the frightening prospect of running non-stop for two hours, Caitlin nonetheless emerged victorious and crossed the finish line at 2 hours 13 minutes. You can read more about the work that Caitlin does for us here.
Jamie
As David and Elly's neighbour, Jamie has long been a supporter of the David Nott Foundation and we are very grateful for everything he has done for us over the years. An avid long distance runner, Jamie managed to finish the 13.1 mile course in an incredible 1 hour 29 minutes!
We are always excited to hear about anyone taking on a challenge event for the Foundation, so please don't hesitate to get in touch! If you'd like to learn more about how you can fundraise for us, please visit out Get Involved page.
Friends of David Nott Foundation
We're delighted to tell you about the new Friends of David Nott Foundation societies that are up and running across several UK universities. These societies will be raising awareness for the work of the Foundation and helping to inspire the next generation of War Doctors. They'll also be holding fundraising events on campus to support the training of more medics working in austere environments.
David and Ammar recently had the opportunity to visit the University of Manchester, where the first 'FDNF' society was established, to deliver a lecture on humanitarian medicine. Speaking to over 200 students, David explained that "If you really want to do something, you can."
Alongside Manchester, students at St George's, Sussex and Durham University have also set up FDNF societies and will be raising awareness for us throughout the year. As Ammar Darwish explained to some of these med students, "The best way to get into humanitarian work is to volunteer for these charities and complete your training."
We're thrilled to see how these societies develop and privileged to help inspire the next generation of humanitarian medics. If you would like to set up an FDNF society at your university, please drop us an email!
STAE Course September 2019
At the end of September, we ran our 7th STAE Course - Surgical Training for Austere Environments. These courses, which are run in partnership with the Royal College of Surgeons, equip medics with the knowledge, skills and confidence to treat patients and save lives. But the training does not end with these courses alone. As Dr Koma Akim, one of the surgeons we trained, said: “Being able to practise the procedure means I have the confidence to do it, and if I can do it, I can teach it.” Through our training and through this worldwide knowledge sharing, we are proud that our courses have saved an estimated 1.5 million lives and limbs to date.
Because of your continued generosity, we are able to offer fully funded scholarships to surgeons who work in challenging conditions to attend this London-based course. We are delighted that our September STAE course was completed by 14 such scholars from all over the world, including South Sudan, Cameroon, Libya and Pakistan. These are some of their stories.
Introducing Youssef
Youssef is a Lebanese surgeon who works 3km from the Syrian border. The majority of his patients are child refugees, who, having fled from war, now deal with chronic wounds and burns. As Youssef explained, war is not just about the acute wounds. Wounds that have not been properly treated, which become infected or that fail to heal properly can be just as deadly.
Dangerous conditions in the refugee camps at the border also mean that further injury is common. Burns from electric shocks, boiling water and fires are a regular occurrence and following up on patients presents an additional challenge. Working with just one other surgeon, Youssef has performed over 400 surgeries since the start of 2019 and sees around 50 patients every day.
Introducing Koma
Koma is a surgeon from South Sudan who regularly deals with gunshot and arrow wounds as a result of cattle rustling among pastoral communities. His patients are often injured hours away from the nearest hospital and those that survive the journey come to him with severe wounds.
Due to a lack of orthopaedic equipment in the hospital, Koma has to treat the majority of fracture injuries non-operatively, even though the patients would often benefit from external fixators or skeletal tractions.
The STAE course has increased Koma's confidence in dealing with these injuries, and he is eager to share his knowledge with colleagues in South Sudan. With the dry season coming up, this skills-sharing is especially important, as it is during this time that doctors expect the highest rates of trauma injuries as a result of the castle raiding.
We're proud to be able to share some of our surgeons' stories with you. You can help us to train more surgeons and save more lives by donating to the Foundation here.
War Doctor Heroes: Meet Dr Samah
We are proud to introduce Dr Samah in the latest instalment of our War Doctor Heroes. These features share the stories of our global family of surgeons. Their courage, diligence and dedication inspires everything that the Foundation strives to achieve.
Dr Samah is the only female surgeon in Aden and possibly in all of Yemen. We first met this incredible doctor in 2016 when she completed our overseas training course (HEST). Since then, she has come to be regarded as one of the very best and has consistently impressed our team with her dedication and diligence.
Earlier this year, Dr Samah was able to apply the skills learned on one of our courses in a life threatening situation. She carried out an emergency procedure whereby an incision of the skin of a patient is made to create a clear airway in a technique that is only performed as a last resort when intubation is impossible. Dr Samah told us: “I saved his life; it was great what I felt at that moment. It’s all thanks to Dr David and his Foundation.”
Her legacy is a reminder of the many extraordinary women who've been on the "front line" for years.
To help us train more war doctors like Dr Samah, you can donate here.
