Surgeon's amazing journey out of Syrian hell

Former refugee just wants to save lives'

- HELENA VESTY

"IMAGINE yourself operating on a patient when you are being attacked by barrel bombs and missiles. Your hands are shaking, the hospital is shaking, soil could go in the patient's wounds while you are operating and then you have to wait a while until the strike stops and carry on."

These days, Dr Ayman Alshiekh, 38, is a surgeon in an immaculate, hospital in Manchester city centre.

But only a few years ago, the doctor was facing the unthinkable - trying to save lives in a bloody field hospital in Syria, being hunted by a brutal regime.

Ayman spent his childhood in his beloved home country of Syria, one of the world's most ancient centres of culture. Attending primary school, he dreamed of becoming a doctor, understanding from the beginning that he was called to come to the aid of those in need.

From his primary school days, he excelled in sciences, working hard to get the grades to pursue an education in medicine. Ayman graduated from the University of Aleppo in 2010 and started his training in vascular surgery in Damascus.

But by 2011, Syria was not a peaceful place to call home anymore. Protests began in March of that year, amid shoots of hope that the country's authoritarian ruler Bashar alAssad might be overthrown.

Ayman was among the young people taking part in what has since become known as the Arab Spring, where protests for a move to democracy spread across the region to the likes of Libya, Egypt, Yemen and Bahrain. But the dictator responded with a campaign of violence and terror against those pleading for a fairer world.

In the middle of his third year of training, Ayman was forced to abandon his studies. Ayman suddenly found himself at the heart of a revolution and began work as a war surgeon in a field hospital.

"Our hospitals were always a magnet for attacks. We were attacked by missiles, by bombs, simply because we were treating casualties," he said.