Syrian doctor who saved hundreds of lives unable to save his daughter

Syrian doctor and poet Mohamed Al-Hamada, who has saved hundreds of lives in the field hospitals around Aleppo over the past six years, was unable to save the life of his daughter last week, local sources revealed on Tuesday.

After an air strike by the Syrian regime air force, Dr Al-Hamada received an emergency call from one of the hospitals in the city of Munbij. He went there immediately and, to his shock and surprise, saw that the patient was his daughter Fatemah.

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The 10-year-old was wounded during the air strike as she and her family were in the neighbourhood of Maqtaa Al-Hajar. She was rushed to the hospital in Munbij but her father was unable to help her. She passed away in his arms.

Fatemah’s death prompted a wave of sympathy for the doctor on social media. The picture he posted has become an icon used widely by social media activists.