A brave medic from Ramsbottomhas sacrificed a family Christmas with his two-year-old daughter to save lives at a UK Government-funded field hospital in war-torn Gaza.
Dr Matt Newport is missing turkey and trimmings with his beloved wife Rachel and toddler Meredith to provide life-saving support to patients in the conflict zone.
Anaesthetist Matt, 37, volunteers with Manchester-based frontline medical aid charity UK-Med and has saved countless lives on four deployments to Gaza.
After flying out on December 3, Matt will spend Christmas at the UK’s Al Mawasi field hospital – one of two emergency field hospitals funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), which have treated more than 300,000 people since January.
The UK Government has been leading calls for more aid to enter Gaza with the Foreign Secretary David Lammy, alongside French and German counterparts, writing to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar on December 2 urging Israel to urgently implement the UN’s winter plan.
Matt said: “It is obviously hard missing all the build up to Christmas. It’s one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.
“If I was at home, I’d be feeling guilty about not being here to help people who really need all the help they can get.
“I’ve worked lots of Christmases over the years but this is the first time since I’ve become a dad, so we had a mini-Christmas Day just before I left, which was nice, although confusing for a two-year-old.
“She opened lots of presents including a scooter and some other bits and bobs and we had the tree up.
“Christmas out here will be a lot different. It will pretty much be business as usual, although we are planning some sort of team meal. There’s not much meat around so I think we’re going to have some nice local vegetarian dishes such as maqluba or some falafel or ganoush.
“We also have some home comforts like some cheese and some Nutella and other treats, so we’ll be fine.
“I’ve not seen any sign of tinsel or a tree but maybe some people who have just come in might have some fairy lights or something hidden in their bags.
“The only bangs we might hear won’t be Christmas crackers but bombs in the distance – but at least we’re spared the awful jokes.”
