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British doctor dies in Syria as hospital is shelled British doctor dies in Syria as hospital is shelled
(about 1 hour later)
A British doctor has died in Syria after a makeshift hospital in which he was working was shelled, a charity said today. A British doctor who left his home, family and job in the UK to help civilians wounded by the conflict in Syria has died after the makeshift hospital he was working in was shelled.
Dr Isa Abdur Rahman, a 26-year-old graduate from Imperial College London, put his medical career on hold so that he could travel to Syria and help treat injured civilians. Dr Isa Abdur Rahman, 26, was working as a volunteer in the north-western city of Idlib with the British charity Hand in Hand for Syria (HIHS) when the facility was attacked.
Rahman, from London, was in the northwestern city of Idlib, where he was volunteering with the British charity Hand in Hand for Syria (HIHS), when a bomb hit the medical facility where he was working on Wednesday. He died shortly afterwards. The charity blamed Syrian government forces for targeting the non-military site with the shelling, which also killed two civilians and wounded two others last Wednesday.
Faddy Sahloul, chairman of HIHS, paid tribute to him, describing him as "one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met". It said Rahman had put a promising medical career on hold to travel to Syria and "sacrificed his life to save the lives of others".
Mr Sahloul said: "I was very close to Dr Isa, a shy young man whom I first met two years ago. The married doctor from London, reported to have previously worked at the Royal Free hospital in the capital, had been in the country for about a year treating non-combatants injured by shelling and air strikes.
"We spent a significant amount of time working together in Turkey and Syria, and he was one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met. Faddy Sahloul, the chairman of HIHS, said Rahman, an Imperial College London graduate, was "one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met".
"I was very close to Dr Isa, a shy young man whom I first met two years ago," Sahloul said.
"We spent a significant amount of time working together in Turkey and Syria, and he was one of the bravest and most dedicated people I have met," he said.
"Everyone who knew him is shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news of his death, but we can draw comfort from the fact that he died doing work that he loved."Everyone who knew him is shocked and saddened to hear the tragic news of his death, but we can draw comfort from the fact that he died doing work that he loved.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family at this difficult time.""Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife and family at this difficult time."
Two other civilians are thought to have died and two people were wounded in the attack on Wednesday. Rahman was said to be of Indian descent and had learned to speak Arabic during his time in Syria.
A Just Giving donation page set up by HIHS following his death has already raised more than £25,000. A fundraising page on the JustGiving website set up in Rahman's memory raised £7,000 for an ambulance in under 14 hours.
The charity plans to use the money to set up a field in Homs named after Dr Abdur Rahman. On Monday evening the page, justgiving.com/for-Isa had raised more than £33,500 towards the £40,000 cost of a field hospital that will be named "after a beloved brother and friend".
HIHS originally planned to raise £7,000 for an ambulance but exceeded the target in less than 14 hours. A message posted on the page read: "It is testament to the character of Isa and the beauty of the people who know him that the money for the initially planned ambulance (£7,000) was raised in less than 14 hours.
On Dr Abdur Rahman's Just Giving page, he was described as "inspirational" and "deeply-caring". "The response has been so overwhelming that now we have the startup funds for a field hospital in Homs, which will be named after him.
The message read: "Those who knew him personally, and those who have heard of him, will know what an amazing, inspirational, kind and deeply-caring person he was. "This was something Isa had been planning to do and has the capacity to treat much more people.
"It is quite hard to even begin describing what an amazing person he was, and all of us are still in shock." "Those who knew him personally, and those who have heard of him, will know what an amazing, inspirational, kind and deeply-caring person he was.
"It is quite hard to where even begin describing what an amazing person he was, and all of us are still in shock."
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