Briton tells of ‘heartbreaking’ moment he put children into body bags in Gaza

A British paramedic has told of the “heartbreaking” moment he put two dead children in body bags shortly after arriving in Gaza.

Sam Sears, 44, from Kettering, Northamptonshire, said his three weeks with frontline charity UK-Med was a “conveyor belt of carnage”, treating a “steady stream” of patients with blast, shrapnel, and gunshot wounds.

Mr Sears said on arrival he was thrown straight into a mass casualty incident where two children, aged nine and 11, died from blast injuries.

He said: “I was tasked with moving the two deceased children out the way to make space for other casualties coming in. I put the children in body bags and zipped them up.

“In the UK I’ve had to deal with a number of deceased children, but the difference was I’m never involved with putting them in a body bag. It’s normally a very calm, slow situation, allowing parents time to grieve.

“So it was particularly heartbreaking putting a child in a body bag, seeing their face for the last time, then moving them out the way so we could treat more people.

“Part of me felt guilty that there was no dignity for them because the emergency situation meant it was a case of ‘they are dead, let’s get them out the way to free the beds’.

“But there was simply no alternative because with such a high volume of casualties, we had to focus on people we might be able to save.”

Mr Sears, a paramedic with East Midlands Ambulance Service, who has also carried out humanitarian work in other countries, said that Gaza is like the Ukraine conflict or the earthquake in Turkey “times one thousand”.

He told of seeing a boy, aged about eight, who was “lifeless behind the eyes – just numb” after losing his whole family in an explosion.

The paramedic said a 16-year-old boy was left paralysed and needing amputation after suffering blast and shrapnel wounds and that his 18-year-old brother wept when told he would now have to care for him alone.

He also told of seeing more pregnant women and newborn babies suffering severe malnutrition because the mothers lacked the nutrients to breastfeed.

Mr Sears, who returned to the UK on July 31, added: “It might sound weird, but I am keen to return to Gaza. What keeps you going is that you really are making a difference and saving lives.

“That first night, another child came in with shrapnel embedded in their stomach and bleeding internally. I was personally convinced they would die, but we got him to surgery within 20 minutes.

“Next day when I saw them they were recovering well and the prognosis was really good. Gaza’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done but moments like that that keep you going. We have saved that child’s life.”

Some £19 million of funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) has enabled UK-Med to treat more than 500,000 patients at the two UK Government emergency field hospitals in Gaza.

The conflict in Gaza began when Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between militants and civilians and operates under the Hamas government.

Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to recognise a Palestinian state by September unless Israel meets a series of conditions towards ending the conflict in Gaza.

The Prime Minister also urged Hamas to disarm, release its remaining Israeli hostages, and accept it will have no part in the future governance of Gaza.

On Saturday, the UK announced another £8.5 million for UN aid to Gaza.

The money, to be delivered through the UN’s Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), is part of a £101 million UK commitment to the Occupied Palestinian Territories this year.