Follow Christiane on social media:

On Twitter + Facebook + Instagram Amanpour producers on Twitter

What time is Amanpour on CNN?

Check showtimes to see when Amanpour is on CNN where you are. Or watch online.

Check showtimes to see when Amanpour is on CNN where you are. Or watch online.

Treating the children at an Aleppo hospital

September 6th, 2012
04:46 PM ET

By Nick Paton Walsh, CNN

Aleppo, Syria (CNN) - They are so used to seeing blood outside Dar alShifa hospital, the magnet of all suffering in Aleppo, that passersby simply walk over it, oblivious. When they mop out the building's tiny reception area, the blood runs in small, dirty streams into the gutters. This is a hospital trying to get by day-to-day while lacking the most basic in supplies. It has itself been hit by shelling: two separate attacks have left its right side punctured with gaping holes in what was once the maternity ward.

One afternoon, a rush of the most frail and vulnerable come towards the exhausted doctors; children, some suffering from sheer terror. One is malnourished. They have cuts, bruises - but more often much worse. The government has, the doctors say, closed the main children's hospital owing to a paperwork issue, so this is where they must come.

Mohamed is aged eight and was hit by shrapnel from regime shelling in his right leg. It shattered his femur. In Europe, surgery would mean he's playing football again within months, but here a list of precarious challenges form. He remains quiet, brave, patient almost, as the doctors work out what to do.

The tough natural solution they hit on is a stark reminder of how desperate the task is of getting medical care to the wounded here in rebel-held territory. The government hospital has better equipment, and can probably save Mohamed's leg. So, lifting him on the blankets they use as makeshift stretchers, they take him, bewildered and confused, into a nearby taxi to cross the front lines. His ordeal is far from over. It is perverse to know that only those who hurt him can also heal him.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose face adorns plastic skeletons used as teaching aids and trash cans inside Dar alShifa, still controls the best hospitals and much of the most precious medical resource: doctors. One medic, terrified enough that he doesn't want his face or voice on camera, is absurdly brave in the risks he takes every day to work in Dar alShifa. During the morning and afternoon, he works in the government hospital. But later, he too crosses the Line to come here.

He paints a gruesome picture of caring for the Syrian regime's soldiers. Fifty a day are brought in, he tells me. Some are so wounded the doctors make a decision, he says, that sounds like it is born of mercy and perhaps rebel sympathies. Those soldiers with the worst, perhaps unsurvivable, injuries are given lethal injections. He tells me: "If they found out I was working here, they would kill me."

Suddenly, a truck arrives outside and little Ahmad is rushed inside. His right ear is hanging on only by a small thread of skin. Shrapnel - as indiscriminate when it lands as the means by which it is fired - hit the back of his head.

The doctors work to clean the wound, but, as too often is the case, the lights and power fail. He lies there as a doctor with a head torch tries to pull the shrapnel from his head. The anesthetic they gave is not enough to stop him screaming in pain.

But this is not the worst that will befall Ahmad. As he lies there, outside in the back of a truck slumps his father Yahya, lifeless, a hole in his chest from the same shrapnel. "Allahu Akbar" cry the men around his corpse. "God is great." They leave his body in the sidewalk until his brother arrives. Later his family will quickly drive the body away, so Ahmad can learn of his father's death at a more dignified time.


Filed under:  Christiane's Brief • Latest Episode
soundoff (15 Responses)
  1. faa drug testing program

    Hey , Nick Paton Walsh , thanks for sharing about that little boy, i could understand from which situation he's going, it was too much critical situation, Thanks to God also..

    http://www.neweradrugtesting.com/

    December 10, 2012 at 6:09 am | Reply
  2. detectives privados boadilla del monte

    detectives privados torrejón de ardoz

    https://www.argadetectives.com/arganda-del-rey.html

    December 11, 2020 at 10:03 pm | Reply
  3. Timmy Tohill

    Some times its a pain in the ass to read what blog owners wrote but this site is really user pleasant! .

    http://6dollarmillion.xyz

    December 20, 2020 at 4:22 pm | Reply
  4. make money fast

    Earn 100 commissions of up to 900+ dollars DAILY. 90 Second Set Up – Beta Tested Proven 24-7 AUTOPILOT Income – 100 New Income System Never Before Seen. More details: https://bit.ly/2YfQFcC

    https://bit.ly/2YfQFcC

    December 26, 2020 at 10:31 am | Reply
  5. Lashon Neighbours

    Remarkable post! Chatting about how taken pleasure in the exact examining. I’m hoping to see significantly more from your website. It looks you might have very good knowledge combined with perception. My corporation is very much fulfilled with this particular tips.

    http://yourmatrixcashmachine.com

    January 12, 2021 at 1:15 am | Reply
  6. Mel Brubaker

    Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more

    https://bit.ly/3iVO2Vh

    January 23, 2021 at 12:41 am | Reply
  7. Tashia Curie

    Best Marketing Services – Cheapest on Market. SMM Supreme is the Top 5 Best Social Media Website in the World. Best Quality-Price Ratio on the market with 714,928 orders until now. – Facebook Fan Page Likes for $4.50/1000 – Instagram Followers for $0.78/1000 – Youtube Views: $1.62/1000 – Twitter followers: $2.10/1000 – Paypal Deposit – Bitcoin Deposit – Fast order processing – 1 Hour Delivery (Click on the link in the profile for more details)

    https://bit.ly/3iVO2Vh

    January 26, 2021 at 4:39 pm | Reply
  8. Jarred Tyl

    Social network traffic Facebook likes Twitter Followers Instagram Followers and much more

    https://bit.ly/3iYGuRO

    January 27, 2021 at 1:07 am | Reply
  9. Johnnie Inglis

    https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/

    January 28, 2021 at 10:44 pm | Reply
  10. malatya escort

    esenyurt escort bayanar bu sitede üstelik hepsi ücretsiz...

    http://www.cuba.tc/escort-kategori/malatya-escort-bayan

    February 4, 2021 at 3:56 pm | Reply
  11. mersin escort

    esenyurt escort bayanar bu sitede üstelik hepsi ücretsiz...

    http://www.elitescorthatun.com/ad-category/mersin-escort/

    February 5, 2021 at 11:18 am | Reply
  12. Ward Oberlin

    Earn 2000 a Month With Our Passive Income System – Best Autopilot income system 2021

    https://warriorplus.com/o2/a/k9hc6/0

    February 5, 2021 at 7:41 pm | Reply
  13. Ivette Vegetabile

    Earn 10000 a Month With Our Passive Income System – Best Autopilot income system 2021

    https://jvz4.com/c/289727/331277

    February 6, 2021 at 4:57 am | Reply
  14. SocialMedia Services2021

    Do you want get more social network traffic, likes, and retweets? SMM Supreme uses his own panel system to generate social media traffic to any website. Best Quality-Price Ratio on the market with 714928 orders until now. – Facebook Fan Page Likes: $4.50/1000 – Instagram Followers: $0.78/1000 – Youtube Views: $1.62/1000 – Twitter followers: $2.10/1000 – Paypal Deposit – Payeer Deposit – Automatic order processing – Our Website: https://smmsupreme.com/

    https://bit.ly/3iOPatX

    February 19, 2021 at 1:45 pm | Reply
  15. Isaias Sigars

    https://www.electricpercolatorcoffeepot.com/10-top-coffee-bloggers/

    March 4, 2021 at 10:09 am | Reply

Post a comment


 

CNN welcomes a lively and courteous discussion as long as you follow the Rules of Conduct set forth in our Terms of Service. Comments are not pre-screened before they post. You agree that anything you post may be used, along with your name and profile picture, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and the license you have granted pursuant to our Terms of Service.