His sweat-stained scrubs caught our eyes as he made his method alongside the crowded dock on the Italian island of Lampedusa.
A whole bunch of migrants had shaped a protracted queue and he provided help and medical care to these in want.
His title is Franco Galletto, a 65-year-old registered nurse, who moved purposely – if frenetically – between a dozen or so sufferers on the pier.
The new arrivals had spent two or three days in crude metallic tubs constructed and launched from the north African coast.
The blazing warmth and the overcrowding robbed lots of the potential to face.
Their experiences reminded Mr Galletto of his work in numerous warzones the place he has labored as a nurse for the Pink Cross.
“I’ve at all times labored in emergency conditions, I have been in Iraq and Afghanistan, and I’ve completed all these missions overseas. I work on the frontline in emergencies as a result of I can deal with it,” he mentioned.
Over the course of 1 hour, we noticed him rush seven infants to a plastic cabin positioned on the high of pier, a type of ad-hoc ‘A&E’ on the web site.
Some had been feverish they usually all regarded dehydrated however the Lampedusa-native mentioned he thought they might in all probability be alright.
“I’m a father, it is like serving to my very own kids. I do not know methods to clarify it but when they’re alive, it’s a pleasure for us,” he mentioned.
“Why do you suppose the migrants take this danger – for themselves and for his or her kids?” I requested.
“I feel they should be fleeing one thing horrible, as a result of once they get to the dock, they typically take their knees and kiss the bottom, thanking God. They give thought to those that do not (survive) as nicely.”
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Mr Galletto relies on the island’s hospital which was constructed to serve a group of seven,000.
However the employees now discover themselves coping with a steady medical emergency.
Greater than 12,000 migrants have arrived in Lampedusa previously week, placing the employees like Mr Galletto beneath critical pressure.
It additionally means island residents have to attend for care.
A quantity complained to us because the employees readied a household from Mali for a journey that might take them to the Italian mainland for additional therapy.
However the 65-year-old nurse has no regrets, for he solely sees the humanity in each man, girl and youngster who he treats.
“I say, welcome everybody, as a result of we’re all sons of the identical God.
“It’s not essential that we’re white and they’re black, we’re God’s kids, we have now to assist them.”