Human Appeal, the humanitarian aid charity based in Manchester, were sad to learn that Dr Emad Alnesr, a Syrian doctor it helped train in November, was killed by airstrikes in Syria on Monday. The attacks, reportedly conducted by Russian airforces, are said to have hit five hospitals and two schools and killed as many as 50 people.
Dr Emad Alnesr was believed to be the only vascular surgery doctor in the Médecins Sans Frontières hospital in Ma`arat al-Nu`man. Human Appeal had arranged a training course in Turkey for doctors caring for people caught up in the Syrian conflict in November 2015, which Dr Alnesr attended. The course was on anaesthesia and was ran by two doctors from the UK.
Dr Hussein Nagi, who is one of the doctors who ran the course, told us:
“[Dr Alnesr was the most decent and polite surgeon I’ve ever met. He was killed by [what is believed to be] a Russian air strike on his hospital two days ago. I had the honour to train him amongst other Syrian doctors and technicians in Gaziantep two months ago with Human Appeal, a training programme for medics that is now more needed than ever.”
Othman Moqbel, CEO of Human Appeal, said: “Dr Alnesr lost his life, helping others fight for theirs, when a fighter jet attacked the hospital he was in. It is a repulsive irony that someone in hospital can be recovering from the illness or injury they are fighting, but lose their life in their sickbed when a bomb is dropped on them. It is an equally disgusting irony that doctors, who spend their time fighting death on the ground, can die when death rains down on them from the skies.”
Mr Moqbel continued: “It is disheartening when you realise all the training we give to doctors and surgeons on ways to improve medical care for those affected by this atrocious conflict can be undone in seconds from a bomb dropped from above. We strive to help people like Dr Alnesr, who show the perfect mix of intelligence, bravery and compassion in their dedication to provide medical care for people in a land ravaged by violence.” Mr Moqbel added: “He was a threat to no one, he was the exact opposite. No military had any reason to fear this man, he was never going to obstruct the flightpath of a fighter jet, he was not a legitimate military target.
