I’ve worked as a surgeon in disaster zones. Nothing compares to the nightmare I saw in Iran’s hospitals when the state started shooting protesters
By 8 January, Iran’s anti-regime protests that began in late December had spread across the country with reports of at least 45 people killed by security forces. Over the next three days the regime appears to have instigated a brutal crackdown on protesters that is now estimated to have led to the deaths of more than 5,000 people.
By the time I reached the hospital in Tehran on Thursday (8 January) night, the sound of the city had already changed.
Up until a few hours earlier, doctors and patients were still sending me photos on WhatsApp; pellet wounds to the back, the hands, the head. Painful injuries, frightening injuries – but survivable. The kinds of wounds that could be treated, that suggested the violence still had limits. Then, at eight o’clock, everything went dark. Internet, mobile phones, messages, maps – all gone.
Minutes later, the gunfire started. From about 8.10pm or 8.20pm, I could hear shots echoing through the streets, along with screaming and the sound of explosions. I was called into the hospital. By the time I arrived, it was immediately clear that we were no longer dealing with the same situation.
