Nurse's anger over delivery blockage

Published on Friday 1 August 2008 10:39

A NURSE who has been trying to deliver vital medicine to people in Gaza has spoken of her disappointment and frustration at having to return to the UK without having completed the delivery.

Linda Willis, along with Khalil Al Niss, from Balerno, spent more than ten days travelling across Europe with the van-load of medical supplies donated by the people of Scotland.

They were destined for use in the hospitals of war-torn Gaza, where there is a severe shortage of basic medical necessities.

But despite this, Ms Willis, 51, who works as a practice nurse in Edinburgh, and her partner were denied entry to Gaza by Egyptian authorities, and have spent more than week jumping through bureaucratic hoops in a desperate bid to get the medicine to a hospital just five minutes from the border.

Ms Willis has now had to return home because of work and family commitments, while Mr Al Niss, 49, a delivery driver, has vowed to stay in Egypt as long as it takes.

The couple have been given the backing of local MP Nigel Griffiths, as well as Independent Lothians MSP Margo MacDonald.

Ms Willis said: "It was so frustrating as the journey there was incredibly long and not exactly easy. We had paperwork to fill out everywhere and we were denied entry to Croatia, so we had to go around it.

"When we finally got to Egypt, though, it just became unbelievable. We spent 30 hours in one place going from office to office, filling out forms, having the van searched – I thought at one point we might never get out.

"It is so frustrating as I'm sure there are lives we could have saved with this medicine.

"I spoke to a doctor who works in Gaza who was so appreciative that we had collected this medicine and that we were trying to bring it across."