A grandmother from Barnsley has been awarded a Humanitarian Medal by the king for her life-saving work on the Gaza frontline.
Chris Hunter, 70, travelled twice to Gaza to save lives with Manchester-based medical charity UK-Med, as part of the UK Government’s humanitarian response to the crisis. Chris worked at two Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office-funded emergency field hospitals, based in Al Mawasi and Deir El Balah, which have treated more than 300,000 patients.
“I know my family would prefer I just put my feet up and started knitting or something but I’d far rather help stitch up patients who need our help in Gaza," she said. “I don’t like the word ‘hero’, but meeting the King was a wonderful surprise and such an honour. It’s taken me a lifetime to get there.”
Her efforts have now been recognised at a special ceremony with King Charles - which meant she was able to treat 13-year-old granddaughter Alexis to a day out at Buckingham Palace. She said: “The King asked my granddaughter Alexis what she wants to do with her life and she said ‘I want to be a nurse’ and the King said ‘Make sure she makes it’.
“My daughter’s just qualified as a nurse as well, so maybe they’ll both follow in my footsteps.”
Chris previously served with the military in Bosnia, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan but insists the scale of human suffering on the ground in Gaza made it her toughest deployment. Chris said: “I remember we had an 18-month-old girl come in and her left hand had been blown off. Two or three fingers on her right hand were gone. She had a fractured leg and little bits of shrapnel embedded in her head.
“When I looked at my 13-year-old granddaughter at Buckingham Palace I couldn’t help contrast it with some of the horrendous things I’ve seen happen to children and little girls in Gaza.”
Chris served with the Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps for 32 years and was still working as a theatre nurse at the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby when she volunteered to travel to Gaza. Chris said: “I know I am elderly and aged, but I just feel as though I’ve got so much to offer. I have a lot of experience and skills which are best used supporting people who really need our help in Gaza.”
The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains extremely challenging, with more than 50,000 killed and more than 90 per cent of the population displaced from their homes, many repeatedly. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been leading calls for more aid to enter Gaza and urgently wants to see a return to the ceasefire.
The Foreign Secretary explained that the medal aimed to recognise “incredible dedication” of the UK's "selfless" frontline responders.
Mr Lammy said: “I am delighted the first tranche of awards will recognise members of the UK government’s emergency deployment teams, for their brave work in Libya, Morocco and Gaza.”
The UK Government announced £17million in humanitarian funding on January 28 to ensure healthcare, food and shelter reaches tens of thousands of civilians and to support vital infrastructure across the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In total the UK has announced £129 million this financial year, including £10m to support UK-Med’s life-saving work in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Chris has “no plans to put her feet up” and is now awaiting news from UK-Med about another deployment to Gaza or Ukraine.
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