West Midlands nurses saving lives in Afghan battlegrounds
Jun 2 2009 By Paul Bradley, in Helmand Province
Midland nurses serving on the frontline in Afghanistan helped save the life of a toddler and her pregnant mother after they were caught in a crossfire as soldiers battled the Taliban.
Medics from Kings Heath Field Hospital, who are serving in dangerous Helmand province, worked tirelessly on the toddler after she was flown in to Camp Bastion with her seriously injured mum.
The child, called Hamdia, had suffered a serious gunshot wound to her foot while her mother, who is 20 weeks pregnant, was shot in the abdomen.
It happened during a fierce battled between British soldiers and Taliban fighters.
Hamdia, her mother, and the unborn child inside her survived the extraordinary ordeal, thanks to the skills and dedication of the medical staff.
Nurses from Birmingham’s 202 Field Hospital told how Hamdia’s father stood devastated outside the theatre as surgeons operated on his wife and child.
Major Kathryn Rickers, who works as a midwife at New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, when not deployed with the Territiorial Army, said: “The dad was just distraught when they first came in.
“Can you imagine seeing your family fighting for their life on operating tables right next to each other?
“They didn’t speak any English either which must have made things even more frightening for them. But by the time they were all discharged from the hospital the interpreter was telling us that they were thanking us for everything we had done.”
Tiny Hamdia lost half of her big toe from the gunshot wound but made a full recovery within ten days.
Amazingly, her mother was also discharged and transferred to an Afghan hospital after surgeons removed shrapnel from her abdomen, saving the unborn baby’s life as a result.
Nurse, Sandra Jordan, aged 31, from Kings Heath added: “Having Hamdia on the ward was a light relief for everyone.
“We are used to men and women coming in with serious battle wounds. She was as quiet as a mouse when she first arrived but by the end she was ever so confident and we were even able to witness her take her first footsteps.”
British soldiers treat all casualties on the battlefield including civilians, the Afghan National Army and the Taliban. Medical Emergency Response Teams, who are constantly on call, evacuated Hamdia and her parents from the battlefield by helicopter.
