SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingImage source, Syria ReliefOn Thursday, trauma surgeon David Nott was in London – a long way from Ukraine. But that didn’t stop him from helping to save the leg of a man who’d been caught by a blast in the war-ravaged country.Oleksandr, the doctor who actually carried out the operation, had never performed the tricky procedure before. But a little over a week previously he had watched Prof Nott demonstrate how it was done inside a Ukrainian hospital.And so Oleksandr took a photo of the wound with his smartphone and sent it to Prof Nott, who had recently flown back to the UK. The experienced British war surgeon confirmed the operation was necessary. He’d also previously given Oleksandr a video talking him through how it was done.”I was quite nervous and it was slowly, step-by-step surgery, but it went well thanks to David Nott,” Oleksandr says.Prof Nott, who was born in Carmarthen in west Wales, has previously worked in conflict zones including Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria.Fortunately for Oleksandr and his patient, the consultant surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital in London had made Ukraine the latest destination in his mission to train doctors how to treat war wounds. Russia’s tactics of bombarding and shelling cities means Ukraine’s hospitals are currently seeing many blast injuries.”It is the worst possible way of attacking the opposition, by simply shelling,” says Prof Nott, in his first interview since returning from Ukraine. “It causes enormous damage. It causes dreadful, dreadful injuries.” These include shrapnel wounds to soft tissue, bones and limbs.Image source, Getty ImagesEven just the shockwave of such a blast can do huge damage, he says. The “blast wind” in its wake is capable of amputating limbs. Being thrown against buildings can cause traumatic injuries, too.Barotrauma – physical injury caused by changes in pressure during an explosion – is a particular concern because of Russia’s use of thermobaric weapons, also known as vacuum bombs. These can cause bleeds on the brain and in the lungs, causing victims to cough up blood. They are also capable of bursting ear drums and perforating bowels.While he says he has been all over Ukraine – “north, east, south-east, west” – Prof Nott does not want to talk about the specific hospitals or areas he has visited for fear that Russian forces will target them – and for the same reason, the BBC is not using Oleksandr’s full name or location.During the war in Syria, he used a Skype connection from his office in London to assist with an operation in Aleppo – only for the hospital to be bombed a few days later. He has spoken about how he will never know if the two were connected.Now Prof Nott says 115 hospitals in Ukraine have already been shelled by Russia.”Blowing up hospitals and killing doctors is a real weapon of war too, it’s just despicable,” he says.While he was in Ukraine, Prof Nott brought as many doctors as possible into operating theatres to watch him carry out operations on warzone injuries, including filling holes in limbs, grafting skin and covering exposed bones.But the mission, a combined venture between his own David Nott Foundation and the humanitarian group UOSSM International, did not end when he left the country as he would soon end up advising Oleksandr remotely before the complicated leg operation.This involved taking a flap of skin from behind the patient’s knee to close a wound and prevent infection getting into the exposed bone.”They are very difficult operations, they are not easy and they go wrong and cause problems,” Prof Nott says. But despite these challenges, the result was “miraculous”, he says. “It worked really well.”For Oleksandr’s part, he says it was important to have the advice of someone with practical experience of the operation: “It’s a relief to us when he tells us it will be OK.”Polish doctor saves family’s sight after bombingUkraine will need medical support for years, surgeon saysIn Mariupol, children bear the brunt of Vladimir Putin’s warHe is full of praise for Prof Nott, who he says has “showed us ordinary doctors how to fight on the medical frontline”.Oleksandr says knowing how to carry out these types of procedure is “very necessary in our situation” because there are so many shelling injuries and open fractures that need to be treated.Prof Nott, through his charity the David Nott Foundation, has translated a series of slides and videos on how to treat war wounds into Ukrainian “which went on as many of the doctors’ phones as it possibly could”.He also hopes those like Oleksandr that he has taught will pass on what they have learned. “He will train other people how to do it, they’ll train other people to do it and then hopefully everyone will know how to do it in the not-too-distant future,” Prof Nott says.Unfortunately, it seems the demand for these skills in Ukraine will not go away any time soon.Earlier this month, Ukraine’s foreign minister said the battles in the eastern Donbas region would resemble World War Two, with the use of “thousands of tanks, armoured vehicles, planes, artillery”.To Prof Nott, the scenes coming out of cities like Mariupol are reminiscent of what he previously witnessed in Aleppo.Image source, Getty Images”It’s exactly the same as Syria, exactly the same tactics,” he says.”Aleppo, when I was there by 2016, was completely flattened, the whole place was completely and utterly destroyed.”Oleksandr says he is now treating “awful injuries” that he had hoped never to see.”We would like to treat normal trauma, like grannies and grandpas who need joint replacements, common fractures,” he says.But he adds: “We are doing our job day by day and whatever happens we will stay at home and do what we should do.”War in Ukraine: More coverageDISINFO: How Russia replaces Ukrainian media with its ownWATCH: Inside Kyiv’s trench defencesIN MAPS: Tracking the invasionREAD MORE: Full coverage of the crisisMore on this storyRussia plans to take southern Ukraine – commanderUkraine needs medical help for years, surgeon saysSyria war surgeon gets honorary degreeSyria surgeon describes warzone ‘evils’

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingYoung people have shared stories of the debilitating effects of long Covid as they urge others to get jabbed.A new NHS video features the experiences of three previously healthy people as part of a drive to encourage vaccine uptake.Quincy Dwamena, 31, said he delayed his jab and “ended up being hospitalised and thought I was going to die”.It comes as the government says it has met its target of offering all 16 and 17-year-olds in England a Covid jab.More than 360,000 people in this age group in England have now been given a first dose of the vaccine.They are being invited to book an appointment with their GP or visit a walk-in centre.In the video to encourage young people to get vaccinated, Mr Dwamena, from East London, described himself as a “healthy young guy” who “went to the gym often” and delayed getting the vaccine and became seriously ill.He said: “My advice is to get the vaccine: don’t put yourself and others at risk, I wish I’d got mine as soon as it was offered.”What do young people need to know about the vaccine?Should all children get a vaccine? How many people have been vaccinated so far? What are the symptoms of long Covid?Megan Higgins, 25, and Ella Harwood, 23, were both previously healthy and active but are now suffering with extreme fatigue due to long Covid.Ms Higgins, a special needs tutor from London, said that eight months on she still “can’t even walk around the shops without getting exhausted”.She told BBC Breakfast on bad days she experiences all over joint pain and “that feeling of being absolutely exhausted from when you wake up to when you go to sleep”. “One of the things I really notice is my emotional resilience… when you’re that tired everything hits you so much harder,” she said.”I had a knot at the end of my hair and trying to comb it out I remember getting so upset because I couldn’t keep my hands above my head long enough to pick at the knot.”I remember getting so frustrated that I wasn’t strong enough to do it. I wasn’t aware enough or awake enough. Something as silly as brushing your hair out can be emotionally really quite traumatising.”She said it was “definitely worth getting the coronavirus vaccine… because the long-term effects can be more devastating than the actual short-term virus for some people.”image sourceNHSMs Harwood, an illustrator from London, said she was bed-bound for seven months and fears she will “never be the same again”.She said: “I was fit and healthy I had literally no conditions. I was doing exercise and for about seven months solid and I genuinely though I might die that year.”She added: “My advice to anyone really, young and old, would be to get the vaccine because it’s a naive way of thinking that you’re invincible just because you’re fit and healthy and you eat the right stuff.”The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said more than a million letters and texts were sent out in the three weeks since the age group became eligible for a jab.All those aged 12 to 15 and considered at-risk in England have also been invited for a vaccination, the government said.Letters have been sent to all 16 and 17 year olds in Wales inviting them for their jab. In Scotland, everyone aged 16 and over can register to get the vaccine on the NHS inform website or by calling 0800 030 8013. In Northern Ireland, older teenagers can book online or call 0300 200 7813. Walk-in centres are also open.According to the latest figures, more than 47.6 million people in the UK – about 87% of over-16s – have now received at least one vaccine, with more than 41.6 million – 76% – having had both jabs.On Sunday 32,253 new Covid cases were reported across the UK, as well as a further 49 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.While the younger a person is the lower their overall risk from coronavirus, young adults can still get long Covid – which is when symptoms of the disease persist for an extended period.The latest figures for England show people aged 18 to 34 now make up more than a fifth of those admitted to hospital with the virus, four times higher than at the peak last winter, and most of those are unvaccinated.’Harrowing stories’Having two doses of the vaccine approximately halves the risk of experiencing symptoms which last more than 28 days after becoming infected, according to research from King’s College London.Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Regardless of whether you’re young, fit and healthy, these harrowing stories really show that Covid-19 can affect anyone. “I encourage everyone to come forward for both their jabs as quickly as possible as vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness.”The government has been pushing to increase vaccine uptake among young people, with companies such as Asda and Deliveroo offering incentives to those who get a jab.Meanwhile, pop-up vaccine sites have been opened across the country at sites such as London-based nightclub Heaven, as well as football stadiums and festivals.FIVE GIRL BANDS THAT MADE A STATEMENT: Moments where real life and music mergedDO ARGUMENTS SOLVE ANYTHING?: Hayley Pearce considers the best way to handle a fight

SharecloseShare pageCopy linkAbout sharingimage sourceNHSYoung people have shared stories of the debilitating effects of long Covid as they urge others to get jabbed.A new NHS video features the experiences of three previously healthy people as part of a drive to encourage vaccine uptake.It comes as the government says it has met its target of offering all 16 and 17-year-olds in England a Covid jab.They are being invited to book an appointment with their GP or visit a walk-in centre.More than 360,000 young people aged 16 to 17 in England have now been immunised.The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said more than a million letters and texts were sent out in the three weeks since the age group became eligible for a jab.All those aged 12 to 15 and considered at-risk in England have also been invited for a vaccination, the government said.According to the latest figures, more than 47.6 million people in the UK – about 87% of over-16s – have now received at least one vaccine, with more than 41.6 million – 76% – having had both jabs.On Sunday 32,253 new Covid cases were reported across the UK, as well as a further 49 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.What do young people need to know about the vaccine?Should all children get a vaccine? How many people have been vaccinated so far? What are the symptoms of long Covid?While the younger a person is the lower their overall risk from coronavirus, young adults can still get long Covid – which is when symptoms of the disease persist for an extended period.The latest figures for England show people aged 18 to 34 now make up more than a fifth of those admitted to hospital with the virus, four times higher than at the peak last winter, and most of those are unvaccinated.’Exhausted just walking to shops’In the video to encourage young people to get vaccinated, previously healthy long Covid sufferers share their experiences, from being bed-bound to thinking they might die.Megan Higgins, 25, and Ella Harwood, 23, were both previously healthy and active but are now suffering with extreme fatigue due to long Covid.Ms Higgins, a special needs tutor from London, said that eight months on she still “can’t even walk around the shops without getting exhausted”.”Long Covid is debilitating, so please, get vaccinated. I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I have,” she said.image sourceNHSMs Harwood, an illustrator from London, said she was bed-bound for seven months and fears she will “never be the same again”.In the clip, support worker Quincy Dwamena, 31, described himself as a “healthy young guy” but said he delayed getting the vaccine and became seriously ill.”I ended up being hospitalised and thought I was going to die,” he said.Having two doses of the vaccine approximately halves the risk of experiencing symptoms which last more than 28 days after infection, according to the Office for National Statistics.Health Secretary Sajid Javid said: “Regardless of whether you’re young, fit and healthy, these harrowing stories really show that Covid-19 can affect anyone. “I encourage everyone to come forward for both their jabs as quickly as possible as vaccines are the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from serious illness.”The government has been pushing to increase vaccine uptake among young people, with companies such as Asda and Deliveroo offering incentives to those who get a jab.Meanwhile, pop-up vaccine sites have been opened across the country at sites such as London-based nightclub Heaven, as well as football stadiums and festivals.FIVE GIRL BANDS THAT MADE A STATEMENT: Moments where real life and music mergedDO ARGUMENTS SOLVE ANYTHING?: Hayley Pearce considers the best way to handle a fight