10%

The Path to Recovery

With the UK-Med Rehabilitation Team

By UK-Med

September 10^th, 2024

At the UK-Med field hospital in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis, a young woman is able to walk again after sustaining life-changing injuries.

Raghad, 19, was severely injured by an airstrike in Tel El Sultan after being forced to leave her home.

“Leaflets were dropped saying [our neighbourhood] would soon become dangerous. So, my family and I moved to an area they called the "safe zone", which was Tel El Sultan,” explained Raghad.

“We stayed at my sister’s home. We were happy because we hadn't seen her for a long time due to the war. That day, we had dinner and went to bed as normal. But we woke up suddenly at midnight because a nearby house had been bombed. The house we were in collapsed and I was trapped under rubble.”

“It was like a terrible dream I couldn’t wake up from. I called out for my sister, but there was no answer. I tried to move my leg, but I couldn't because of the rubble."

Raghad said.

"I heard my brother-in-law's voice; he came and dug me out from under the debris and carried me to the ambulance."

From Surgery to Rehabilitation

Rushed into the International Medical Corps field hospital at 1AM, Raghad was told she would be operated on the following morning. As the sun rose, further tragedy struck - she learned that her sister and niece had not survived.

“We were in the same room, yet they were killed, and I was injured. Our mum died when we were young, so my sister used to take care of me – she meant everything to me. My niece was named after me too.”

“I lost my sister, my most precious person. I don’t have anyone else. My sister was the most precious person in the whole world. She was my life, a piece of my heart, my supporter.”

Grief-stricken and lying injured and immobile in a hospital bed, Raghad was told her feet would need to be amputated. Only partially conscious, she explained to the doctors that she could still move her legs, meaning there was hope they could be saved. The surgeons stitched the wounds in her legs and shortly after Raghad was transferred to the UK-Med field hospital in Al Mawasi, Khan Younis for further treatment.

Under the care of Dr Khamis and Dr Allan Cortes – a specialist orthoplastic surgeon – Raghad underwent several surgeries.

“[The surgeons] realised I had a severed tendon in my arm, so they repaired it so that I could move my fingers. I’ve had five operations at the UK-Med hospital to recover the ability to move my arms. To avoid complications, they operated several times to close the wounds.”

“With most of the surgeries, the purpose is to save a limb. But it’s not just one surgery, it takes a couple of surgeries to save a limb,” explained Dr Cortes.

From Rehabilitation to Recovery

Raghad stayed as an inpatient at the UK-Med field hospital for 21 days, during which time she participated in daily rehabilitation sessions with our team of physiotherapists to strengthen her muscles and regain her functional mobility.

UK-Med has integrated rehabilitation as a core part of its work in Gaza, promoting it as an essential component for comprehensive healthcare. The organisation actively emphasises the importance of rehabilitation to ensure people achieve the best possible outcomes in their recovery by preventing health complications and aiming to reduce the rates of long-term disability.

Dr. April Gamble, UK-Med’s Senior Health Advisor for Rehabilitation, explained “The work of the UK-Med national rehabilitation team shows us the significant impact rehabilitation services can have. They are supporting people and communities to not only survive – but to maximize their resilience and abilities to care for themselves and each other. However, within the overall Gaza emergency response, there is a significant lack of resources being allocated to rehabilitation.”

In Raghad’s case, specialised rehabilitation played an essential, restorative role. For a young woman who already endured so much suffering, she found hope and energy in knowing that rehabilitation could help her to heal and participate in a full and meaningful life.

Hanaa Farouq Abo Mandil is a physiotherapist with the UK-Med field hospital rehabilitation team who worked closely with Raghad.

“Raghad was unable to move at all when she first came here…Thank God, she is better now after the doctors at the UK-Med field hospital operated on her,” she said.

With Hanaa’s help, Raghad steadily regained her mobility. By the time she was discharged from the UK-Med field hospital, she was able to walk independently; a result of both Raghad’s determination and Hanaa’s expert support.

After being discharged, Raghad returned regularly for outpatient rehabilitation services with the UK-Med rehabilitation team in order to strengthen her abilities to prepare herself for her future.

Now, Raghad is able to step towards a brighter, more hopeful future.

An Uphill Battle

While Raghad's story is one of strength and hope, there are still many hurdles to overcome for the thousands of wounded people in Gaza and the medics who are trying to help them.

Many of the adults and children that the UK-Med rehabilitation team are working with in Gaza have various traumatic injuries including fractures, amputations, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injuries. Such conditions require not only life and limb-saving surgery but also assistive products as an essential component of rehabilitation services.

WHO states that assistive products “such as wheelchairs, artificial limbs, walking aids, and toilet chairs are essential health products and must be available alongside medicines and other medical supplies to ensure comprehensive health care for people injured and/or displaced as a result of conflict.”

Yet the lack of this equipment in Gaza is making the work of Hanaa and the rehabilitation team increasingly difficult. For Raghad, her progress in learning to walk again safely and independently was slowed because she did not have access to a walking aid, like a walker or crutches.

“Assistive devices such as walkers, crutches, and wheelchairs aren't available for all the patients. Patients take turns to use the only walker in the department,” explained Hanaa.

Since early May, the Kerem Shalom crossing has been the main entry point for humanitarian equipment and supplies into southern Gaza, including items used by UK-Med. Not enough of the necessary equipment for rehabilitation is making it across the border, meaning the rehabilitation team faces an uphill battle to provide essential assistive products for all those who need it.

“If the closing of the crossings continues and limited medical equipment for the wounded is allowed in, this will lead to serious, negative complications for the patients. Their conditions will deteriorate if they don't receive the necessary treatment due to a lack of proper equipment,” Hanaa said.

More than 94,000 people in Gaza have been wounded so far, many thousands of whom have lost limbs or sustained other life-changing injuries.

To support and expand our medical work, we have launched our Gaza Health Crisis Appeal. Please consider donating today.

Footnotes

By Kieran Seager, photos by Majdi Fathi

Button Label

FootNotes

By Kieran Seager, photos by Majdi Fathi

Story Told With

Start publishing stories like this