One Tuesday in November, Dr Youssra Hashem, a well-known gynaecologist in the city was killed on her way to work, shortly after leaving her home. Another female doctor in the city defied threats from extremists. Then one day a man walked into her hospital and murdered her. 

When Dr Schmidt had first visited the hospital back in 2001, she had been able to walk around the city, talk to people and dress as she pleased, all in relative safety. Today she cannot enter the city. Even heavily armed security contractors in bulletproof vests refuse to escort trucks into Basra carrying supplies for the hospital.    With this in mind, it was too dangerous for the already fragile children and their parents to travel by road to see a specialist in congenital heart defects anywhere outside Iraq. They would have to fly from Basra airport to another city.   Aid organisations Terre Des Hommes in the Syrian capital, Damascus and Caritas in the Jordanian capital, Amman were notified of the children’s plight. A team of French specialists – visiting Damascus in the first week of January – said that if the children could travel from Basra, they would assess them and consider funding life-saving treatment for the children in France later this year. It was perhaps a once in-a-lifetime opportunity. 

With only weeks to go, a multinational effort begun to look into travel arrangements to and from Damascus. Volunteers helping Dr Schmidt contacted various airlines, the British Embassy in Jordan and a number of other contacts. They found that the only option was a civilian or military flight from Basra to Amman. From there Caritas could organise a coach for the four-hour onward journey to Damascus.   A small charter airline in the region offered to do it but needed to cover their costs: just over £5,000, but their plane could only safely accommodate 23 passengers. This was clearly not an option. 

A larger airline flying regularly between Basra and Amman looked a better option. Being a major airline with a larger plane, perhaps they would assist a humanitarian effort and show a bit of seasonal goodwill. The airline’s senior management responded saying their policy is not to assist humanitarian efforts in Iraq. The group from Basra were asked to pay regular fares amounting to just under £24,000.

On the afternoon of December 28, when all concerned were beginning to fear their efforts had been in vain, a promising telephone call came through. Ten days earlier, Dr Schmidt had appealed to the King of Jordan’s office and after considering her request, he now offered to help. 

King Abdullah II, who has four young children of his own, studied at Oxford and retains close links with the British Army. He trained at Sandhurst military school and then served in one of the Queen’s regiments as a young man. 

Before he could confirm his offer, first the King’s fears had to be allayed. The British Army initially wouldn’t guarantee the safety of one of his military planes. Thankfully an hour or so later, there was no longer a problem. It was a very welcome Christmas present for all concerned. 

Although a breakthrough was achieved on this occasion, the Basra hospital supported by Dr Schmidt – and our volunteers in Ireland and the UK – remains under increasing pressure. 

As well as looking after the sick and injured among the 3 million people living there, many Basra hospitals are being overrun by patients fleeing for their lives from Baghdad, where many hospitals have been invaded by death squads. 

While 30 armed guards patrol outside, doctors and nurses struggle to work in overcrowded wards, operation rooms and corridors where many of the sick and injured are sharing beds or lying on the floor due to the influx of extra patients. Supplies and medicines are being used up faster than ever.    Sourcing these essential medicines and supplies is another challenge. 4Basra volunteers have located a source of a vital Leukaemia drug, the generic version of which costs one eighth of the branded version. Although this will be a huge benefit, the 3,000 tablets – which will last the hospital about 6 months – will cost over £5,000. 

Washington is due to announce a further £500 million reconstruction effort, but the US track record on reconstruction suggests this will have little effect. According to the campaign group Medact, one project to build 142 primary care centres ran out of cash early in 2006, leaving just 20 on course for completion. 

In the midst of the chaos and the failure of much larger reconstruction projects, Dr Schmidt and her supporters have achieved remarkable results. One hospital ward whose walls were once dull and dirty – and where an obligatory portrait of Saddam Hussein hung – is now bright, modern and airy, like any modern European hospital ward. 

Another has been transformed from a hygiene and health safety risk, where flies constantly hovered over old drains, dirty damp walls, floors and overflowing bins, to a clean, modern one with bright colourful curtains, new beds and mattresses. The mortality rate for one serious illness is now 25 per cent, reduced from 100 per cent. 

A children’s playroom, along with toys, games and a TV with cartoons playing on it, has been a huge psychological boost. A teacher now works there and the room also functions as a makeshift school. The children can play and learn as children should, and forget about their illnesses and the trouble around them, if only momentarily.

Dr Schmidt has so far raised £40,000 towards the next consignment of medicine and supplies for the hospital she supports in Basra, which will cost £100,000. 

Names have been changed and details omitted to protect the hospital and its staff.