Hong Kong surgeon leaves her comfort zone by volunteering for work in South Sudan
Shannon Chan was impressed with people’s strength while on a Medecins Sans Frontieres assignment in a country wracked by civil war and poverty
When Hong Kong surgeon Shannon Melissa Chan was trying her best to save a newborn baby boy in South Sudan, the mother of the baby grabbed her hand and said: “Let him go.”
Minutes later, the boy died in his mother’s arms.
“If the child is not meant to survive, he is not meant to survive. That is life,” the mother, who was on her third day of labour, told the doctor.
It was one of the most heart-breaking moments for Chan, 33, who was a field worker with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the international medical humanitarian organisation.
Each year, over 2,000 MSF field workers provide medical aid to people in about 65 countries, mostly those with poor living conditions and an unstable political environment.