Compassion in conflict: Hong Kong medics brave Gaza war to deliver critical care
Medical staff from the city recount saving lives and bringing comfort in war-torn communities as part of Red Cross humanitarian efforts
Hong Kong doctor Ben Ng Siu-bun still remembers the horrors of war in conflict-torn Gaza.
The 52-year-old anaesthesiologist joined a humanitarian mission organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross to Gaza in March this year, providing medical services to those who were injured or ill.
During his six-week stay at a field hospital in Rafah, southern Gaza, Ng said about half of the patients sent there were suffering from gunshot or blast injuries.
He recalled treating a 12-year-old girl who sustained severe facial injuries from a bomb on his last day there. The doctors had to put in 20 to 30 stitches to repair her face, he said.
“She still had a pretty Hello Kitty hair accessory on her head … but her face was broken,” he said.
“There were many humanitarian disasters in Gaza. So when the Red Cross said anaesthesiologists were needed there, I wanted to do something for this.”