A PLASTIC surgeon from Wirral who has treated victims of Syria's appalling civil war has vowed to return to the strife-torn region.

Ali Juma, who usually works at Spire Murrayfield Hospital in Heswall, has just spent eight days in Jordan on a mercy mission to rebuild the shattered bodies and lives of Syrian refugees.

Wirral Globe:

Plastic surgeon Ali Juma

He was part of a team of international plastic surgeons sponsored by the American-based charity LEAP Global Missions treating them at a charity hospital in the Jordanian capital Amman.

Ali, 53, who has more than 23 years’ experience in plastic surgery, said: “We treated people with all sorts of injuries, from bombings, explosions, shrapnel, gunshots and even from domestic injuries.

"We were performing reconstructive surgery on the victims and I hope I've helped change some lives for the better – it was a wonderful experience but a very humbling one."

Wirral Globe:

Ali Juma with victim of the Syrian civil war in the charity hospital in Amman, Jordan

"These people are homeless, penniless, they've lost friends and family but they're still proud and they were so grateful to us.

"Because they live in very modest accommodation without proper kitchens they cook and boil water on stoves on the floor and one little boy ten months old had horrible injuries from scalding which we were able to treat.

"He had 15 per cent scalds, which had not been treated for three months but we were able to do skin grafts on a large portion of the scald.

"The first dressing showed 100 per cent graft take. He need further treatment and this will be carried by another capable visiting team."

Wirral Globe:

Ali Juma treats victim of the Syrian civil war in the charity hospital in Amman, Jordan

Ali, and the LEAP surgeons, who were mainly American, were joined by a team from Turkey for part of the time they were there and also worked alongside local hospital staff.

They worked every day treating people who were from refugee camps 45 miles from Amman and who were living in difficult conditions with rain and extremely cold temperatures.

Ali, who lives in Aigburth and is married with two young children, added: “I will definitely return. I have discussed this with my wife and she is very supportive.

“I would like to go out there when the opportunity arises and I’m sure Spire Murrayfield will continue to support me in this as well.

“It’s very satisfying and gratifying to be out there doing something which I have been trained to do. The emotional side kicks in but so does the professional side and you know all those years of training didn’t go amiss.

“The little kids break your heart, they all break your heart.

“You see people younger than me who look older than me because they have had so much stress in their lives.

“They’re fighting and killing each other out there but what matters most to us is preserving life and limb.

“We’ve kept in touch with the surgeons there. They’re very capable and well trained and are doing very well with limited resources and I would like to do something to support them in future.

“I was proud to be out there from Liverpool. For me it was about helping people and representing a city where I have lived for 20 years.”

Ali trained in London and in Merseyside, and worked in the NHS for 27 years, the last 12 years as a consultant plastic surgeon before becoming fully private in his practice at Spire Murrayfield Hospital.

He found out about LEAP Global Missions and decided to get involved and the trip to Jordan was his first for the charity, which provides free specialised surgical services to people in need across the world.

In the 24 years the charity has been in operation, it has delivered over 9,000 free surgeries in 21 countries.