Gaza surgeon’s harrowing testimony moves Derry audience at Féile screening of Life Support
Leading surgeon Dr Nick Maynard gave an emotional first-hand account of the horrors he has witnessed inside Palestinian hospitals in Gaza during his second visit to Derry.
Dr Maynard spoke at the Nerve Centre following a screening of the acclaimed new documentary Life Support as part of Féile 2026.
The consultant gastrointestinal surgeon, who has been travelling to Gaza to work alongside and train Palestinian medical teams since 2010, spoke about treating patients in horrific conditions as hospitals came under Israeli bombardment and faced severe shortages of medicines,
equipment and other essential supplies.
He described the enormous suffering he has witnessed during repeated visits to Gaza and reflected on the children and families he has treated while working in hospitals struggling to cope with huge numbers of casualties.
Dr Maynard paid tribute to the extraordinary courage of Palestinian doctors, nurses and other medical staff who have continued to care for patients while facing enormous personal loss and danger themselves.
He spoke of medical workers continuing to turn up for work despite losing relatives, friends, colleagues and their homes, and of the huge physical and emotional toll placed on those workers trying to keep Gaza’s health service running and save lives.
Dr Maynard said there was an onus on governments and medical professionals to speak out and use their platforms to call for an immediate end to the suffering of the Palestinian people.
The emotional discussion followed a screening of Life Support, a new film which documents the experiences of international and Palestinian doctors working side-by-side inside Gaza’s hospitals since October 2023.
Nick Maynard features prominently in the film alongside other doctors who entered Gaza to provide medical care and bear witness to the conditions facing patients and medical staff.
Much of the powerful footage featured in the documentary was recorded by medical workers themselves, with international media largely barred from entering Gaza.
The film provides a first-hand account and graphic eye-witness testimonies of the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and the increasingly desperate conditions faced by doctors attempting to treat seriously injured patients.
The screening at the Nerve Centre formed part of Féile 2026’s film programme which features a number of screenings on Palestine, Lebanon and more.