'My Name is Dr. Majed and I Am Another Syrian Doctor Killed During Duty'
'My Name is Dr. Majed and I Am Another Syrian Doctor Killed During Duty'
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My name is Dr. Mohamad Majed Bari
My friends and patients called me Dr. Majed
I was a doctor not a terrorist
I saved lives while terrorists take lives away
I was killed when my car was targeted with a heat-seeking missile by a Syrian fighter jet
I bled to death
No emergency crew was able to reach me on time
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN are not allowed by the government in my hometown behind rebel lines
They stay away safe in the capital
They have to abide by the system's bureaucracy
The system does not protect me or my patients
There were no news reports of my death.
The reporters are all in Kobani
My friends and patients called me Dr. Majed
I was a doctor not a terrorist
I saved lives while terrorists take lives away
I was killed when my car was targeted with a heat-seeking missile by a Syrian fighter jet
I bled to death
No emergency crew was able to reach me on time
The International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN are not allowed by the government in my hometown behind rebel lines
They stay away safe in the capital
They have to abide by the system's bureaucracy
The system does not protect me or my patients
There were no news reports of my death.
The reporters are all in Kobani
I was riding in an ambulance in Aleppo trying to save another life
Another three civilians were killed with me
They joined another 200,000 Syrians killed in my homeland
I was working with a humanitarian organization called Saving Lives!
I was killed while saving lives
"How Ironic," you may say but Syria is the land of ironies these days
Another three civilians were killed with me
They joined another 200,000 Syrians killed in my homeland
I was working with a humanitarian organization called Saving Lives!
I was killed while saving lives
"How Ironic," you may say but Syria is the land of ironies these days
Many of my colleagues left Aleppo because they were afraid about losing their lives.
Some of my friends were detained, tortured and killed just because they insisted on working as doctors
They swore to save lives
They were treated like criminals or even worse
We were told that the whole world respects our neutrality
We were told the Geneva convention guarantees our impartiality
We were told that being a doctor is like being an angel
You give from yourself to heal your patient
The regime did not respect any of that
The world did not rush to help us
We suffered in silence like my homeland
Some of my friends died drowning trying to flee on boat to a new land of hope
They were swallowed by unsympathetic waves of the Mediterranean sea
Some of my friends were detained, tortured and killed just because they insisted on working as doctors
They swore to save lives
They were treated like criminals or even worse
We were told that the whole world respects our neutrality
We were told the Geneva convention guarantees our impartiality
We were told that being a doctor is like being an angel
You give from yourself to heal your patient
The regime did not respect any of that
The world did not rush to help us
We suffered in silence like my homeland
Some of my friends died drowning trying to flee on boat to a new land of hope
They were swallowed by unsympathetic waves of the Mediterranean sea
I stayed because it is my duty to save lives
I stayed because if I left who else will stay?
Who else will offer a hand of healing to a sobbing child pulled out of the rubble of her home destroyed by a barrel bomb?
Who else will vaccinate the children in my neighborhood so they don't have polio or measles?
Everyone left us to face our fate
We have no one but God
He is watching those who deserted us
I guess He is testing them and testing us
I don't expect anyone to react to my death
I don't expect anyone to stop the killing in my hometown
I stayed because if I left who else will stay?
Who else will offer a hand of healing to a sobbing child pulled out of the rubble of her home destroyed by a barrel bomb?
Who else will vaccinate the children in my neighborhood so they don't have polio or measles?
Everyone left us to face our fate
We have no one but God
He is watching those who deserted us
I guess He is testing them and testing us
I don't expect anyone to react to my death
I don't expect anyone to stop the killing in my hometown
I lost my faith in humanity
But I lived a fulfilling life and I don't regret a minute I had serving my patients
I will join another 560 Syrian doctors who were killed by the war criminals
My patients will miss me and so will my wife and two young children
I will miss what is left of my city and homeland
I will miss the courage of my colleagues who are still working
Saving lives as usual
I will miss their faith, their warmth and their humor
And I will miss the sounds of the barrel bombs
It is too silent here
It is too cold
It is too dark
It is too "un-Syrian"
Pray for me and for my homeland
But I lived a fulfilling life and I don't regret a minute I had serving my patients
I will join another 560 Syrian doctors who were killed by the war criminals
My patients will miss me and so will my wife and two young children
I will miss what is left of my city and homeland
I will miss the courage of my colleagues who are still working
Saving lives as usual
I will miss their faith, their warmth and their humor
And I will miss the sounds of the barrel bombs
It is too silent here
It is too cold
It is too dark
It is too "un-Syrian"
Pray for me and for my homeland
Dr Majed Bari with his Newborn Child
My name: Dr. Majed Bari
Medical School: Aleppo University Medical School
Graduation: With honors
Date of my death:10/15/2014
Place of Death: Aleppo City, Castello road
Cause of Death: Heat-Seeking Missile
Reason of Death: Saving Lives
Medical School: Aleppo University Medical School
Graduation: With honors
Date of my death:10/15/2014
Place of Death: Aleppo City, Castello road
Cause of Death: Heat-Seeking Missile
Reason of Death: Saving Lives
Zaher Sahloul is a Syrian-American critical care specialist who is the president of The Syrian American Medical Society, SAMS.
Follow Zaher Sahloul on Twitter: www.twitter.com/sahloul
