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'I couldn't sleep': UAE frontliners recall working in war zones, 'unforgettable' patients

Many of them were part of missions in Gaza, caring for children, as well as treating soldiers from Yemen

When Dr. Mariam Nuaimi returned from her first mission to the Al Arish border to help Gaza victims, a 11-year-old boy was one of the patients she brought back. He still remains her most unforgettable patient yet.

“He came alone, and he didn’t have any limbs,” she said, speaking to Khaleej Times. “And every half hour or so, he would wake up from his sleep crying for his bag. When I asked him what was in his bag, he said there was a slice of rotten bread that he had been eating from, and his mother’s scarf. His mother had been killed in Gaza.”

Dr. Mariam, an emergency medicine consultant at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City, was speaking on the sidelines of the Emirati Women’s Day event held at Expo City Dubai. The event honoured the efforts of female Emirati frontline workers and humanitarians and gave them a platform to share their experiences.

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She said when her plane landed back in Abu Dhabi, she burst into tears. “I was in the first mission to Al Arish where we had to get home in 24 hours, so it was a very stressful,” she said. “The amputations and injuries you see are unbearable. The kids had been suffering without their parents. I held it together and the moment I landed back home, I couldn’t stop crying. I couldn’t sleep for two days after that mission. I think it made me a different person.”

Several injured and wounded Gazans have arrived in the UAE since November last year for treatment in Emirati hospitals as directed by President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Kidnapping simulation

Another guest at the event was Dr. Ayesha Al Memari, the first female Emirati civilian physician to volunteer to treat soldiers from Yemen. After specialising in emergency medicine, Dr. Ayesha did a humanitarian fellowship where a simulation of a war scenario made her take a tough decision.

“In the simulation, they kidnapped one of our team members and for three days, we were taught how to negotiate and deal with the situation,” she said. “I left the event deciding that I will volunteer anywhere but not in a war zone.”

However, in 2015 she got a call asking her to volunteer in Yemen. “You want to volunteer but you decided that you were not fit for a war zone,” she said, explaining her thought process. “But if you are afraid, if you cannot go as a leader, how can you send someone from your team? Looking back, I am glad that I did not say no because I think I would have regretted it for the rest of my life.”

Since then, Dr. Ayesha has volunteered in several parts of the world and is always ready to help those around her, with the limited resources she has. However, there is one thing that always plays on her mind — the kidnapping simulation. “Since that training, I always feel like I should be ready if I am kidnapped,” she said, eliciting peals of laughter from the audience. “That has been an enabler. I started with mountain hiking and then it took me to horse riding. So, I thought, I can escape on a horse. I started running two years ago and whenever I feel tired, I think I have to keep running because one day I might need to outrun kidnappers.”

She has also taken a yacht license, learnt cycling and is in the process of getting her pilot license.

Being a mother

Specialist pediatric emergency Dr. Salama Al Sahli first went to Al Arish on a rescue flight that Khaleej Times was part of. She said she was a new person after November. “I saw children with wrinkles and who did not smile,” she said. “The challenge on the mission was not medical. It was emotional. When I came back from the mission, the first thing I did was I asked my mom to give me a hug.”

Since then, Dr. Salama has been on seven more rescue missions. During one of them, she had a three-month-old baby that she cared for. “During the six-hour flight, the mother was so exhausted that she slept,” she recalled. “I fed her, changed her diapers and clothes, and basically became her mother. It was a new experience for me because I had never cared for a baby for that long.”

According to Maha Gorton, head of Women's Pavilion at Expo City Dubai, the event was a platform. "We wanted to amplify the voices of those who are really making an impact to inspire our community," she said.

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