Padraig and Lisa Fitzgerald directors of PJ Fitzgerald insurance were delighted to meet one of the White Helmets of Syria, Mr Nedal Izzden at the Tipperary international peace award on 6th September.
Nedal Izzden is one of the thousands of Syria’s Civil Defense Forces who are the “first responders“ when buildings are bombed in Syria. They risk their lives to rescue men, women and children from the rubble, often under attack from aerial bombardment. To make matters worse, they are often identified by president Assad’s forces and allies {RUSSIA} and deliberately targeted by “Double Tap“ a phrase used when the Helmets go to rescue civilians after the immediate aftermath of a bomb, where the aircraft bombers return within minutes to bomb the same site again, killing yet more civilians and the White Helmets themselves.
One interesting fact; The white helmets are given training in recovery and first aid by a Northern Irish man in nearby Jordan. Over 210 white helmets have lost their lives in saving over 100,000 lives. There story was a subject of an award winning documentary on Netflix recently.
Padraig and Lisa were delighted to be involved by the Tipperary Peace Convention. Despite the awful stories of life in Syria and terrible doom and gloom, Nedal thanked the Irish people for their support and their compassion.
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