GRIEF OF MY HEART - Memoirs of a Chechen Surgeon
The first contribution to the blog comes from Mimi, and no, I did not pay her for it. I'm sure the good Lord one day will reward her for her generosity. I am positive she did read the book. Well, I hope she did. OK OK OK She DID read it, and here is her comment. Thanks Mimi, please make it a habit...the contribution, that is. Yes, the reading too.
Dr. Khassan Baiev, a Chechen native lived a luxury life by practicing cosmetic surgeory in Moscow. But in 1994 a war broke out between Russia and Chechnya, which had been sturggling to break away from Russia for 400 years. Appalled by the situation, the Chechen surgeon, returned to his beloved homeland. He set up a makeshift hospital outside Grozny and began treating all who needed his care, on both sides of the conflict.
Dr. Baiev's dedication to the Hippocratic Oath meant he was denounced by the Chechens for treating wounded Russian soldiers and branded a "terrorist sympathizer" by the Russian authorities for treating the Chechens. Nevertheless, despite imprisonment, torture and the bombing of his house and constant harassment of his family, he continued to treat and operate wounded soldiers under impossible conditions.
For six long years, he operated on the horribly wounded under harash conditions, with no anesthesia, glucose, or even alchohol. He went without sleep for most nights, and spent weeks without going home to his wife and kids. Dr. Baiev kept a journal while working in his hospital, and he wrote this memoir based on his diary. Also included are family photographs.
This brilliant eye witness account of a war conveys the hellishness of war, and a man's love and dedication to his country and profession.
