“Thanks. We did not know where else to go”

• Afghanistan

Shah Mohammad, a 60-year old farmer, was hospitalised with hand, shoulder, and leg injuries inflicted by a rocket that fell on his house during the Afghan forces counter-offensive against the Taliban in Chah-e-Anjeer, a village of a few hundred families in Helmand, southern Afghanistan.

He was only able to reach our Lashkar-gah hospital the day after he was injured, after a pause in fighting.

He spent the night being looked after by relatives, without access to painkillers, let alone a doctor.

Shah Mohammad was saved. He sought refuge in Lashkar-gah because he no longer has a home and it remains too dangerous to go back to his village.

To those who ask as why we choose to remain in Lashkar-gah while fighting continues all around us, we can quote what was said by one of Shah Mohammad’s family members: “Thanks. We did not know where else to go.”