You’ve no doubt seen the devastating explosion and destruction from Beirut. Most of the pictures following the blast are depressing, but photojournalist Bilal Jawich got a shot that can only be called inspiring.
Jawich was at home on the outskirts of Beirut when the explosion occurred. It left at least 100 dead and thousands injured.
He told CNN Arabic – “I followed the smoke until I reached the port of Beirut.” It led him to Al Roum hospital.
What he saw there was remarkable. He said, “I was amazed when I saw the nurse holding three newborns. I noticed the nurse’s calm, which contrasted the surrounding atmosphere just one meter away.”
He continued…..”However, the nurse looked like she possessed a hidden force that gave her self-control and the ability to save those children. People stand out amidst these violent and dark and evil circumstances and this nurse was up to the task.”
Jawich said the nurse told him later that evening that she was in the maternity ward when the blast hit. She said she had been knocked unconscious, and when she came around “found herself carrying these three children.”
Not everyone in the hospital was so lucky. 12 patients, two visitors and four nurses died in the incident, while two remain in critical condition. Some 80% of the hospital had been damaged, along with 50% of its equipment.
The babies and their mothers have been transferred to other hospitals.