In France, in early March, the Grand Est region found itself at the heart of the health crisis. In the hospitals of Mulhouse, Strasbourg, Metz-Thionville, passing by those of Verdun and Bar-le-Duc, our reporters followed Hassan, emergency specialist in war medicine, Basma, gerontologist, Haytham, pediatrician, Mohammed, cardiologist, and Jubran, vascular surgeon. These Syrian doctors, who often experienced war in their country and found refuge in France, found themselves on the front line in the face of the pandemic.

In hospitals overloaded with Covid-19 patients with overwhelmed resuscitation services, they stood out for their composure and their ability to adapt quickly to an absolute emergency.

And for good reason. While in Syria, Jubran treated the wounded under the bombs. When the hospital where he worked, at Maarat al-Numan, was bombed, he lost seven colleagues. For his part, Basma saw his hospital destroyed by the regime in the suburbs of Damascus, the capital. Refugees in France, where they now practice, these doctors were often plunged, despite themselves, in these painful memories, when the Covid-19 swept into their hospital.

The war in Syria is what drove them into exile. Who keeps Jubran's parents in a refugee camp in the Idleb region. On the front in France, these doctors remain engaged in parallel to help their country. Hassan founded the NGO SOS Syria, which brings aid and medical equipment to refugee camps. Jubran and Mohammed, on the other hand, provide medical support from a distance and, thanks to social networks, they are trying to prevent Covid-19. All hope that one day Syria will find peace, so that they can return to practice in their country's hospitals.

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