RANA JOUNI

Lebanon_ Within the corridors of Nabih Berri University Hospital in Nabatieh, nurse Sabrine Hanaoui continues to carry out her nursing duties with remarkable steadiness. She has not taken a single step despite the escalating risks posed by repeated shelling and targeting in the hospital’s vicinity, remaining at her post to fulfill her humanitarian duty under conditions that threaten her life daily.

Sabrine Hanaoui’s story appears different from everything surrounding her. She does not face danger merely as a nurse, but as a mother eagerly awaiting her baby girl, whose anticipated arrival alleviates the harshness of these days, Despite her pregnancy, she spends her days among medical equipment and the sounds of emergencies, bandaging the wound of a terrified child or comforting a woman who has lost her children under bombardment.

In every painful scene, she is accompanied by the image of her unborn daughter, the one she fears for in a world constructed by violence. Yet she has not retreated, nor has she left her post, as if she is resisting for her child as much as she is resisting for her patients.

Sabrine Hanaoui recounts her experience, saying: “I have working here for three months. I was in my third month of pregnancy then, and today I have reached my sixth month, and I am still performing my duty despite all the difficulties.” She adds that the phase the hospital is going through is “extremely harsh, “but the thought of retreating has never crossed her mind. In her view, it is one’s duty to remain where the need is greatest, even if the price is fatigue, fear, and anxiety that accompany her every day.

Regarding her pregnancy under these difficult circumstances, she explains that she follows up on her pregnancy remotely:” I communicate with my doctor via WhatsApp. If I feel any pain, I message her immediately and she reassures me. I do the basic tests here, and l have only been able to go down to my doctor once since the crisis began.

Sabrine Hanaoui does not hide her fear, saying: “Fear exists, and I do not deny it. Fear for myself and for the fetus I carry. One night, shelling intensified around the hospital, I woke up in a panic. I placed my hand on my belly and reassured my baby before reassuring myself, telling her that everything will pass.”

She adds: “We have experienced harsh incidents, including the injury of two children and the martyrdom of one of them. In moments like these, fear creeps into my heart, and I imagine the scene as if it were happening to my daughter. But I quickly dismiss this thought, praying that this war will end before I give brith, and that my baby will not see the light amidst this destruction.”

Sabrine Hanaoui draws her strength from a deep-seated faith and from the support of her husband and colleagues, who surround her with encouragement at every moment. She concludes: "We are sacrificing ourselves today so that we may protect a better tomorrow for our children, and a future that does not resemble this harsh reality. We will remain until the end, alongside every wounded person and every person in need, hoping that this crisis will end soon."