Medic leaves son to help Libyans
Dr Fan Ning is no stranger to war, but this time his departure will be much harder. He will leave behind not only his wife, but a one-year-old.
His son will not see his father for the next three weeks at least.
The Hong Kong president of Medecins Sans Frontieres, who is a general surgeon at Yan Chai Hospital, left last night to join 400 field workers providing critical care for those injured in the conflict in Libya.
He is the first doctor from MSF-Hong Kong to head to Misrata, a rebel-held city where the latest clash between rebels and Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's government-led forces killed 11 people on Tuesday. The MSF has stations in Benghazi, Misrata, Yefren and Zintan.
After a 36-hour boat journey from nearby Malta, Fan expects to see 'huge numbers of civilians exiting Libya by boat' seeking asylum. But many Mediterranean countries - like Italy and Tunisia - refused to help, leaving many of the injured stranded in Misrata.
To make matters worse, daily shelling forced many local doctors and nurses to flee Libya, causing a shortage of medical care in a time of tremendous need, Fan said. 'They really need medical workers,' he said. 'My family understands this.'
He admits that he will be homesick. 'Of course, I'll miss my son, but he will have a lot of good care,' Fan said. 'Many babies around the world don't have adequate care and some have lost their parents through war.'
Fan recalls when he saw a toddler with severe burns during his mission to Gaza in 2009 amid the Israeli military operation. The child reminded him of how scarce medical care was in such danger zones. 'These are things that aren't supposed to happen and they're an injury to the human spirit,' he said.
Fan has worked with MSF since 2007 and has been to Sri Lanka, Gaza and Haiti. In Beichuan in 2008, he helped wounded survivors of the massive earthquake that devastated large parts of Sichuan .
He got his appetite for humanitarian work when he attended a seminar while he was still an intern. 'It made me realise how many people ... were dying every second because of natural disasters and war. We live in a relatively wealthy society and have top-notch medical care; we should help the less fortunate.'
Asked whether he is concerned for his safety, Fan said: 'Of course I'm worried, but we take precautions and receive training.' He has spent the past few weeks preparing for critical trauma and freshening up on war-zone safety precautions.
Is he worried about leaving his family behind? 'My wife is more worried about me,' Fan said.
His wife, who has also worked for MSF, is certain he knows the importance of timely safety reports.
'The first thing I'll be doing is getting a local SIM card, if I can,' the 40-year-old said.
