A trauma surgeon in Manchester is bringing his experience as a field surgeon during Syria’s brutal civil war to support patients at the city’s Major Trauma unit.
Dr Ayman Alshiekh graduated from the University of Aleppo in 2010 and started his training in vascular surgery in Damascus. Unfortunately, he had to leave his studies in the middle of his third year due to the escalation of the Syrian civil war and went straight into work as a war surgeon in a field hospital.
He said: “Our hospitals were always a magnet for attacks. We were attacked by missiles, by bombs, simply because we were treating casualties. That was considered a crime by the regime.
“Imagine yourself operating on a patient when you are being attacked by barrel bombs and missiles. Your hands are shaking, the hospital is shaking, soil could go in the patient’s wounds while you are operating and then you have to wait a while until the strike stops and carry on.
“Due to the siege, no medical supplies could get into Aleppo. We had to make do with what we had. When you are a war surgeon in Aleppo, the most important thing is saving lives. Everything else comes second.”
As the conflict escalated, Dr Alshiekh became increasingly worried for the safety of his family and managed to get them asylum in Turkey while he continued to save lives in Syria.
“When the barrel bombs started to fall over us in 2014, I was already working in a field hospital and I couldn’t concentrate on treating people because I was always thinking about my family. When I moved them to Turkey, I could at least concentrate on my job.”
Eventually though, Ayman himself departed the conflict to seek refuge and leave to remain in the UK. He arrived at the end of 2018 with little money and very few possessions.
Despite his years in the field, Ayman had to regain his qualifications to practice in the UK. After he passed his exams, and was registered with the GMC, he managed to secure a role at Manchester Royal Infirmary where he now works as Senior Clinical Fellow in vascular surgery which is a core specialty in the hospital’s Major Trauma service”.
