St Mary's Hospital doctors back from Haiti earthquake zone
Published: 26 February 2010
by JAMIE WELHAM
DOCTORS from St Mary’s Hospital have spoken of the horrors they witnessed helping the relief effort in Haiti.
Theatre sister Taka Dzuda, oral surgeon Asif Amid, plastic surgeon Shehan Hettiaratchy and trauma surgeon David Nott have all returned to the Paddington hospital after two weeks in field hospitals in the devastated capital Port-au-Prince.
Speaking about a 10-year-old orphan she helped, Ms Dzuda said: “Guillame just turned up at the hospital because he didn’t have anywhere else to go – he lost his family and home in the earthquake. We cut our scrubs so he’d something to wear and gave him a football. It was very upsetting.”
She added: “In the short time we were there, you could see we were helping to improve quality of life. It was great to see the resilience and courage of the Haitian people, they have a very strong spirit.”
The team treated thousands of people, many of whom needed reconstructive and plastic surgery.