LEBANON - Jabal Amel Attack – Injured nurse testimony
Jamila* (name changed) has been a nurse in the dialysis department at Jabal Amel Hospital, in Sour (Tyre) since 1996. She was on shift on 1 June when an Israeli strike hit the vicinity of the hospital at around 6pm. The attack injured 39 medical staff, including Jamila - making it the single incident with the highest number of healthcare workers injured at once - and caused severe damage to the hospital. It was one of a series of strikes in the region despite the so-called ceasefire and it was followed three days later by another.
A few days later, she shares her testimony as she is waiting in her hospital room for facial reconstructive surgery that is due to take place the following day. Her face is yellow and swollen from the violence of the blast, her body covered in bruises. Her eyes are bloodshot and ringed with dark hematomas.
“I understood it was a bomb, and I immediately prayed I wouldn’t lose my sight”
I was working on the dialysis department, monitoring a patient, when I heard something fall. It felt like it dropped right on my head. It didn’t sound like the blasts I had heard before. A few seconds later, I felt a warm liquid running down my face, but I didn’t realize it was blood. When I looked down, I saw my colleague lying on the floor. That’s when I noticed my blood on the ground. I understood it was a bomb and I immediately prayed I wouldn’t lose my sight. I lost consciousness and people carried me out.
When I woke up, my first thought was about the patient I had been monitoring at the time of the attack. I wondered what had happened to him. I spent 24 hours in the intensive care unit, then I was moved the CSU [Cardiac Surgical Unit]. Now I’m waiting for facial reconstruction surgery. There is still a piece of glass lodged near my right eye. I’m grateful that I can still see.
All I can think about is going back to work, back to my patients. I want to recover as soon as possible so I can support people again. I care deeply about my job. I’m committed to giving the best care to dialysis patients, to being there for them and spending time with them.
The new strike that happened yesterday was extremely loud. I was absolutely terrified. The only thing I could do was pray. This hospital is my second home. I live here, with my sister who is also a nurse in another department. There’s no alternative for us. Our entire village has been destroyed, and our family home is gone.
If there is an evacuation order, I will stay. Where would I go?...
[On 9 June, the entire locality of Sour (Tyre) was placed under a forced displacement order.]
Hannah Hoexter