From Sichuan quake to Gaza war: Hong Kong nurse wins top medal for life-saving work
Walter Leung’s volunteer work with the Red Cross in disaster situations has earned him the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction for nurses
In a makeshift hospital ward in Rafah, Gaza, reserved for the most severely wounded and dying patients, Hong Kong nurse Walter Leung Wai-yin, 66, walked up to a woman who had lost part of her face in an explosion.
The woman was classified as a “blue case”, indicating catastrophic injuries and considered beyond saving. Medical professionals instead shift to end-of-life care, focusing on reducing pain with the heaviest dosage of morphine.
“Her skull was gone and her brain was visible. Blood was all over her hair and face. She was still screaming and breathing,” he said.
“So I brought my British nurse partner and wiped the blood off her body. You could still smell the gunpowder … We also bandaged her head so that she would look better when her family came to see her.”
Leung has been awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, the highest international distinction for nurses, for his 15 years of volunteer work with the Red Cross in disaster situations. He is the first volunteer from the Hong Kong Red Cross and the third nurse from the city to win the award.