Iraq: ‘The Patient List is Long. They All Come From Mosul’

The patient registry at the Emergency Hospital in Erbil, Iraq, where we take care of victims of war, is long. They all come from the same place: Mosul.

“How many people left the house with you? How many of them have you lost along the way?” These are the most difficult questions to answer for those who cross this threshold.

It was difficult for ‘M.’ too. He arrived at the hospital over a month ago carrying two of his five children.

He thought he lost his other three children and his wife during the fighting, until a few weeks ago he received a phone call alerting him that one of his daughters had lost a leg, but she was alive. A few days later, she arrived at the hospital and Mosul’s family started coming together.

Last week they were all waiting in the garden of the Emergency Hospital for the arrival of the fourth brother. He is alive too, he and his grandmother were stuck for weeks because of bridges that had been destroyed in a raid.

“Thank you! Thank you!” – This is all the father can say, moved by the sight of a son that he thought he had lost.

Since February, with the intensification of the conflict in Mosul, EMERGENCY’s staff are operating 24/7.

To date, we have treated over 570 war victims and performed over 600 surgical operations.