This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/15/paris-attacks-medic-we-were-treating-war-wounds-made-by-war-weapons
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Doctor who treated Paris wounded and Charlie Hebdo victims calls for unity | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| An emergency doctor who treated the wounded in both January’s Charlie Hebdo attack and Friday night’s massacre in Paris has said France must stand strong and united and show a “Churchill spirit”. | An emergency doctor who treated the wounded in both January’s Charlie Hebdo attack and Friday night’s massacre in Paris has said France must stand strong and united and show a “Churchill spirit”. |
| Patrick Pelloux said he felt there was a clear terrorist strategy to target France and other countries. “It means that the reaction should be European. We musn’t be afraid, we must all stand together to find a Churchill spirit. We’re at the start of something. We mustn’t give in. They won’t win.” | Patrick Pelloux said he felt there was a clear terrorist strategy to target France and other countries. “It means that the reaction should be European. We musn’t be afraid, we must all stand together to find a Churchill spirit. We’re at the start of something. We mustn’t give in. They won’t win.” |
| Related: Paris attacks: identities of victims from more than a dozen countries emerge | Related: Paris attacks: identities of victims from more than a dozen countries emerge |
| Pelloux, who wrote a column on the medical world for Charlie Hebdo, was one of the first at the scene of the massacre at the satirical weekly. He gave his colleagues emergency treatment as many of his friends lay dead, after two French gunmen opened fire with Kalashnikovs, killing 12 people. | Pelloux, who wrote a column on the medical world for Charlie Hebdo, was one of the first at the scene of the massacre at the satirical weekly. He gave his colleagues emergency treatment as many of his friends lay dead, after two French gunmen opened fire with Kalashnikovs, killing 12 people. |
| Ten months later, on Friday night, Pelloux was in a Paris A&E department treating some of those seriously injured in the latest series of coordinated attacks that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds injured. | Ten months later, on Friday night, Pelloux was in a Paris A&E department treating some of those seriously injured in the latest series of coordinated attacks that left at least 129 people dead and hundreds injured. |
| “It’s a war. We’re at war,” Pelloux said after working through the night on Friday. “We were treating war wounds made by war weapons, with bullets that go in very fast, that break and burn and send a very strong shockwave so it creates extremely serious injuries. | “It’s a war. We’re at war,” Pelloux said after working through the night on Friday. “We were treating war wounds made by war weapons, with bullets that go in very fast, that break and burn and send a very strong shockwave so it creates extremely serious injuries. |
| “The team tried to save a lot of people but there were terrible wounds. Most were aimed to kill, at the head, thorax, abdomen. Others were defensive wounds where people had put their hands up to their face. We tried to save a woman who had nine bullets in her body but she died upon her arrival at hospital.” | “The team tried to save a lot of people but there were terrible wounds. Most were aimed to kill, at the head, thorax, abdomen. Others were defensive wounds where people had put their hands up to their face. We tried to save a woman who had nine bullets in her body but she died upon her arrival at hospital.” |
| At the time of Friday’s attacks, Pelloux had been promoting his new book, published the day before, in which he attempts to draw a line under the Charlie Hebdo attacks, commemorate his colleagues and bid farewell to a magazine he left amicably this autumn. He said he could no longer bear his colleagues’ absence and that it was time for new talent to pick up the baton. | At the time of Friday’s attacks, Pelloux had been promoting his new book, published the day before, in which he attempts to draw a line under the Charlie Hebdo attacks, commemorate his colleagues and bid farewell to a magazine he left amicably this autumn. He said he could no longer bear his colleagues’ absence and that it was time for new talent to pick up the baton. |
| Related: Paris attacks: Weapons linked to Islamic State assault found in getaway car – live updates | Related: Paris attacks: Weapons linked to Islamic State assault found in getaway car – live updates |
| “As soon as I heard of Friday night’s attacks, I rushed straight to A&E,” he said. “That morning, the emergency services in Paris had actually done a training exercise for a major terrorist attack. We were well prepared. But the type of the attack is significant. It is a methodical gunning down of everyone, a little like a video game. | “As soon as I heard of Friday night’s attacks, I rushed straight to A&E,” he said. “That morning, the emergency services in Paris had actually done a training exercise for a major terrorist attack. We were well prepared. But the type of the attack is significant. It is a methodical gunning down of everyone, a little like a video game. |
| Some of the attackers appeared to have been very young, he added. “The question that now has to be asked is why did these people who are so young take up arms and fight? | Some of the attackers appeared to have been very young, he added. “The question that now has to be asked is why did these people who are so young take up arms and fight? |
| “The fact that there was an attack at place where the French president was and then that gunmen mowed down people in the street is incredible. We’ve moved into another phase. We’re really in a war where they will stop at nothing.” | “The fact that there was an attack at place where the French president was and then that gunmen mowed down people in the street is incredible. We’ve moved into another phase. We’re really in a war where they will stop at nothing.” |
| At the moment of the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s weekly news meeting, Pelloux had been at another engagement in the building next door. A colleague who survived called him from beneath a table, and he rushed to the scene. “It was bizarre. As a doctor, the idea of having to save someone you love, give them emergency treatment, that’s something you’re really scared of. It’s very complicated, difficult.” | At the moment of the attack on Charlie Hebdo’s weekly news meeting, Pelloux had been at another engagement in the building next door. A colleague who survived called him from beneath a table, and he rushed to the scene. “It was bizarre. As a doctor, the idea of having to save someone you love, give them emergency treatment, that’s something you’re really scared of. It’s very complicated, difficult.” |
| Related: Police question Paris attacker's family as investigation widens | Related: Police question Paris attacker's family as investigation widens |
| He said he had intended his book to be a memorial to the people who died in the Charlie Hebdo attack because he felt that, as with Friday’s massacre, it was important not to lose the sense of who each of the victims were who died. | He said he had intended his book to be a memorial to the people who died in the Charlie Hebdo attack because he felt that, as with Friday’s massacre, it was important not to lose the sense of who each of the victims were who died. |
| “When people talk of an attack like Friday’s they’ll say 129 dead. Behind that figure are 129 people, 129 families crying for their children, their friends, that means something. That is atrocious. We must never forget people who have been killed like that.” | “When people talk of an attack like Friday’s they’ll say 129 dead. Behind that figure are 129 people, 129 families crying for their children, their friends, that means something. That is atrocious. We must never forget people who have been killed like that.” |
| Pelloux chose the title of his book – Always There, Always Ready – to reflect the US marines’ motto, Semper fidelis – Always Loyal – after US soldiers restrained a gunman on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in the summer. He said the incident had shaken him and brought back memories of the Charlie Hebdo attack. | Pelloux chose the title of his book – Always There, Always Ready – to reflect the US marines’ motto, Semper fidelis – Always Loyal – after US soldiers restrained a gunman on a high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris in the summer. He said the incident had shaken him and brought back memories of the Charlie Hebdo attack. |
| Charlie Hebdo released its own statement expressing solidarity and “total support” to the victims 0f Friday’s atrocity and their families. | Charlie Hebdo released its own statement expressing solidarity and “total support” to the victims 0f Friday’s atrocity and their families. |