Doctor saves 3-year-old girl from bullet stuck in neck

A nurse has spoken about the moment she helped save the life of a three-year-old Palestinian girl who was shot in the neck and passed through her mother’s body.

Dr David Anderson, from Rutland, spent six months in war-torn Gaza last year as part of the UK Government’s humanitarian response.

The 55-year-old man said he had “never imagined the horrors of war” that he saw.

“Obviously it’s a miracle that they survived and the bullet hit the little girl just a few millimeters from her spinal cord,” he said.

Warning: This story contains details that may disturb readers

Razan, a three-year-old boy, is now making a full recovery after the 7.92 mm bullet was removed.

Mr Anderson, who was born in Scotland, said: “It took three hours of surgery to remove the bullet. Because the bullet had passed through the mother’s body twice, the speed of the bullet was so slow that the baby was not seriously harmed.”

“The family’s story was heartbreaking. They had fled northern Gaza when their apartment was hit by an airstrike at the beginning of the war.

“As they moved south they had to step over dead bodies and by the time they finally reached Al Mawasi (in the south, near Khan Yunis) they had been displaced three times. They thought they had found safety. It’s gone…but they were wrong.”

The conflict in Gaza escalated after hundreds of Hamas fighters attacked Israel’s southern border on 7 October 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

Israel responded with a military campaign, including a full-scale ground invasion on 27 October 2023.

Since then, more than 46,000 people have been killed in Israeli attacks, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Israeli army said Hamas fighters have been targeted in its attacks on Gaza And it has tried to avoid or minimize civilian casualties.

Hamas responded to the Israeli action by firing rockets at Israel.

Mr Anderson said the ceasefire that began on Sunday, although “uncertain”, was “an extremely important step towards relief for those affected”.

Mr Anderson was awarded an OBE in the King’s New Year Honors List and was instrumental in helping to establish two emergency field hospitals funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

Located in Al Mawasi and Deir Al Bala, the hospitals have treated more than 350,000 patients.

She received an OBE for services to “the UK’s emergency health response abroad” responding to various humanitarian crises, including the world’s worst Ebola outbreak in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine and Sierra Leone in 2014.

“I am surprised but honored to receive the OBE,” he said.

“It is also a reflection of the hard work and dedication of the entire UK-Med team, present and past, who support our work globally to ensure access to health care where it is needed most.”

UK-MED is a humanitarian medical non-governmental organization that provides assistance in conflicts and disasters. It has also launched a Middle East Crisis Appeal, which has so far raised £200,000 to support its work in Gaza.