HELP A GAZAN DOCTOR, DR ALI, TO PURSUE HIS DREAM.

Saving a doctor's life. Help me continue my medical journey by travelling to take the PLAB 2 exam.

 Hello, I am Ali, a 29-year-old doctor. I graduated from Alexandria University in Egypt three years ago. My family was living in a harsh financial situation, and they gave me all they had for me to become a doctor. This was despite all of the obstacles and difficulties, knowing that I would return back to them eventually and to my homeland to make a difference. 

Some time before the war broke out, I was working as a resident doctor in the obstetrics and gynecology department, and at the same time I passed two out of three exams," OET, PLAB 1, PLAB2", to have the opportunity to register in the British Medical Council and to complete my education there.

 My plan was to expand my medical experience in Gaza and to be ready financially to complete my education in the UK at the same time. I resigned from my residency and began working as a general practitioner in the emergency department of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. 

 As fate would have it, my first working day was October 5th, 2023, just two days before the war. It is difficult to describe the scenes I have witnessed since October 8th. The bloody scenes I have witnessed are now lodged in my memory, and I will never be able to forget them. 

What affects me the most are the repeated scenes of injured mothers calling out for their children and the repeated scenes of inconsolable severely injured children calling out for their mothers. 

 Many of my colleagues working in the same department were martyred, and so many of my relatives, friends, and neighbours were also martyred. All of them good people, who led normal lives and had loved ones and families. My family and I walked the dangerous path of displacement many times and had to move from our home to several places, after forceful displacement and finally to Rafah, where I worked at Muhammad al-Najjar Hospital. This hospital had fallen apart at that time, after many months of receiving thousands of patients. There were no medical supplies and limited medical equipment. It was painful for me as a doctor to witness patients suffer and suffocate, and nothing could be done to prevent the preventable. 

 My work does not bring me any financial return for me to be able to help my family of 10 overcome the high cost of food and basic requirements. 

 The fear of hospitals and medical personnel being targeted has not dettered me from doing my duty to help by sacrificing myself for vulnerable Palestinian civillians.

 I must continue my work but need your help to survive by providing financial access to food, water, and necessities for myself and my family and to help save up the money needed for me to travel and complete my education as soon as the crossing is open. 

 10 months into this hell on earth, it is becoming more and more difficult to hold on to hope that I have a bright future ahead of me, but I must hold onto that hope. The two exams that I had passed cost me a lot of money, effort, and time, and they are limited to a specific timeframe.

 I must complete the remaining exam as soon as possible, otherwise I will lose everything. Now, I am at a new crossroad, and this exam "PLAB 2" represents an important and sensitive turning point in life, the culmination of many years of studying, and hard work.

 Help me to achieve my dream and return again to my homeland, to heal the wounded and treat the sick among my people, who have remained. Your help is desperately needed and highly appreciated. Every donation, whatever the amount, brings me a step closer to safety and makes my dream come true. Your contribution will be a beacon of hope for my family and can contribute to saving us from the ongoing war in Gaza. 

 Thank you.  

Doctor Ali Altahrawi