Afghanistan: “This Is What I Saw: This Is War and Its Consequences”

“Some weeks have passed since I returned from Afghanistan.

I feel the need to do something, to explain to people that war is a reality and not the news stories we hear broadcast on the television or the location of the latest blockbuster. I clearly remember how strange it was going to bed after a difficult day at work, listening to the cannon shots, explosions and weapons firing. These are the deafening lullabies that no chid in the world should have to listen to: but there this is the norm.

I didn’t really know what coming home and recovering really meant after a mission overseas spent healing the wounds left by war. I often find myself thinking about what happened to the patients who came to our hospital every day in Lashkar-Gah. Here in Italy, it’s difficult to imagine how to treat a man with a bullet in his cranium, a women with shrapnel in her abdomen or a child who has lost their sight because of a landmine that exploded in their hand. This is what I saw: this is war and its consequences. It is something that NOBODY should have to face.”