Chios, Greece. A 12-year-old girl with a broken arm has drawn attention at Chios hospital after assisting other survivors following a collision between a coast guard vessel and a migrant boat that killed 15 people.
Volunteers describe girl’s actions in hospital
Red Cross volunteers who arrived to assist dozens of injured survivors said the girl, despite her injury and lack of sleep, moved between wards to comfort other migrants and translate for medical staff.
Volunteers said she looked after her younger brother and supported other children, including a boy who had lost his father and was described as inconsolable.
Conditions in the paediatric department
Volunteer Maria Serli said the paediatric ward the day after the wreck was filled with injured children aged between 12 months and 13 years, many in shock and separated from their parents since the disaster.
Serli said the girl was the only child who spoke English, cared for her brother, and went to other wards to interpret and comfort another child whose father had died. Serli also said the girl told rescuers at the shipwreck site, “Leave me. See to my dad.”
Other cases reported across hospital wards
Serli said a man asked repeatedly about his wife, unaware she had lost her unborn child in the accident. She also described a mother with multiple trauma whose bruising and disfigurement led her 12-month-old infant not to recognise her, with the child finding comfort by holding the hair of long-haired volunteers.
In the surgical ward, Serli said she assisted a two-year-old named Hansa who refused to eat until reunited with his mother. Through gestures, Serli said, the mother indicated they had fled their country to give the child a better life.
What do you think should be prioritised for survivors’ care after such a maritime disaster?