PIEN HUANG, HOST:
It's been a week since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas went into effect. Hundreds of aid trucks now arrive in Gaza every day. Displaced people are returning to their homes, hoping they still stand after months of bombardment. But it won't be an easy road out of the humanitarian crisis left by 15 months of war. And today, we bring you a firsthand account of those conditions as the war entered its final days.
MIMI SYED: I think like most people, I was just kind of watching it on my phone livestream, and I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't just keep watching and not do anything.
HUANG: That's Mimi Syed, an emergency physician based in Washington state. She set out to find a way into Gaza to help. And after months of navigating red tape, she made two trips last year with an American NGO, most recently working in two different hospitals for the month of December. The toll on the population had become clear.
SYED: We could now see more of the aftermath of what was happening because it's been going on for so long - very high cases of kidney failure in children, malnourishment, a lot of infectious diseases that were very preventable. Children are easier to be dehydrated or hypothermic. It's, like, so many layers, you can't even begin to kind of see the level of destruction.
HUANG: Here, Dr. Syed shares voice memos she captured while she was there - a personal diary of sorts, which she sent to us daily. And a note to listeners, you'll be hearing the sounds of war, including gunshots and explosions, and the sounds and descriptions of wounded people being treated in a hospital.
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
SYED: It's December 4. It's about 6:00 in the morning, and that's what we're waking up to. I arrived here last night, and this morning, we'll be going to the hospital. I'll touch base then.
When - no, when?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
SYED: When he got injured, he got shrapnel or been shot (ph)...
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
SYED: ...Now it's infected.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Non-English language spoken).
SYED: Explosive injury with a hemothorax, (inaudible) injury, chest tube...
(CROSSTALK)
SYED: ...Difficult to insert. Can you get the password (ph)?
I have seen more cases of malnourishment than I had previously when I was here. The temperature is a little colder as well, and I noticed that children are walking around without shoes on or jackets on. I've seen more patients come in with hypothermia because it gets very cold outside at night, and there's no sheltering and no coats or jackets.
Yesterday was a mass casualty incident where we received many children. One of them was a 9-year-old who had a shrapnel to her head with brain matter exposed. We would normally not resuscitate that patient. However, I made the decision to intubate her and secure her airway, resuscitate her. And I'm really glad that I did that because today, she is moving around and actually showing very good neurologic function. I guess it's stories like these that make me remember why I'm here.
(SOUNDBITE OF ELECTRONIC CHIMING)
SYED: December 6, 2024 - a colleague and I stood outside today, and children started to congregate around us asking us for candy. And I had brought some lollipops with gum in it and some chocolate, and they were so happy to receive it. They asked us our names and where we were from and wanted to take selfies with us. It was really cute. It reminded me of my kids back home.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Non-English language spoken).
SYED: This morning, I woke up and was heading down to the ER, and I noticed some kids that I've been laughing with and playing with. They're kind of just living in the encampments around the hospital and in the hospital. I woke up and saw the back of a car, the back window that's filthy with dust. But someone had kind of painted on there with their finger, Mimi, I love you. I thought it was really sweet and kind of brightened my day. But I'm going to go try to find them and give them some balloons that I brought with me.
(CROSSTALK)
SYED: December 14, 2024 - this is our second mass casualty today. We had three teenagers dead on arrival and multiple injuries, severe injuries. Now we're waiting for another MCI (inaudible)...
December 16, 2024 - two patients came in with quadcopter shots to the head. One was a 16-year-old male who came in - pretty much unsalvageable injuries. We're just waiting for him to die. It just is - it's become a normal thing in Gaza.
December 21, 2024 - on December 4, we received a child with the ambulance that had a very severe head injury with brain matter exposed. And I just heard from the father today, and he sent me a video of her reading and also walking normally. And at the end of the video, she said, thank you, Doctor, for saving me. I'm doing well.
(SOUNDBITE OF BIRDS CHIRPING)
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Non-English language spoken).
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Non-English language spoken).
SYED: These kids are bringing us food. And we have a whole spread that they've made, and they've invited us to dinner. And we'll...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #3: Hello.
SYED: ...Have a...
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #4: Hello.
SYED: ...Little place inside.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #4: Hello.
SYED: Hello.
UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #5: Hello.
SYED: December 25, 2024 - yesterday evening, the children that are displaced and live in the tents around the hospital and in the hospital, they prepared an entire spread of food for me and two other physicians here for Christmas Eve, kind of food given to them by the World Food Kitchen.
UNIDENTIFIED PHYSICIAN: Did you cook this meal (ph)?
SYED: Spaghetti and beans and olives and rice - yum.
It was just so endearing to see them prepare an entire spread for us using whatever they had, even though they barely have any food for themselves, and they were so proud of their efforts. Reminded me how innocent children are, and that children will always be children no matter what part of the world they're in.
December 29, 2024 - it's the day before I leave. I have many feelings. I have excitement to see my family again, but I know that I'm going to go back to my normal life that's beautiful. And I have to leave these people here, all of my colleagues and kids that I've met, the patients. And there's no end in sight.
(CROSSTALK)
SYED: December 31 - it's the morning after I got back to Amman last night. One of the colleagues that I was with in Gaza took us out to such a fancy restaurant, such a nice restaurant. It felt like I had stepped into another dimension again. I mean, I'm still wearing the shoes with the blood of Gazans on it. And I was sitting there, and I felt this overwhelming sense of guilt. (Crying) And I couldn't eat a bite. I couldn't eat anything. And I've been waiting to make this voice note because I knew it would be so difficult to make. I just can't - I can't forget my colleagues that I left behind and the children, all the children that are going to be suffering. And here I am. I get to sit here and sit in safety and warmth and have clean water and good food to eat. Anyway, I hope to continue to record and document everything and speak up as much as I can in every opportunity about this situation until my very last breath.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
HUANG: That was Dr. Mimi Syed, an American physician who recently spent a month treating patients at hospitals in Gaza. She documented humanitarian conditions there in the final weeks before the ceasefire, conditions which are still dire today. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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