Muslim Navy surgeon says saving lives in the Forces makes him proud to be British
Royal Navy doctor Mansoor Ali Khan has saved countless British lives on the front line in Afghanistan
WHILE serving in Afghanistan, Surgeon Commander Mansoor Ali Khan had to put his emotions to one side.
He recalled: “We were dealing with soldiers with horrific injuries because, basically, they had just stood on a bomb.
“It is really, really difficult. If you think of the injured soldier as an individual, your mind will blank out.
“You have to go into a zone then reflect on it later.”
Dad-of-three Mansoor, 41, served in 2011, 2013 and 2014 in Afghanistan, and is now a surgeon at St Mary’s Hospital in London.
He added: “I’m proud of being British, proud of wearing the uniform and proud of serving in the Navy.”
Raised in Scunthorpe to Pakistan-born parents, Mansoor was the only Muslim at his Catholic school and “encountered racism” but learnt “how to nip it in the bud”.
He added: “Becoming a doctor seemed like a profession which was looked up to. I liked the idea of helping people.”
In the months before last year’s Manchester Arena bombing he ran a course on how to treat blast injuries.
A surgeon at one of Mansoor’s sessions — and the aftermath of the attack — later got in touch to say the course helped save lives that night.
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He concedes it is hard to change perceptions of his faith amid attacks which have nothing to do with peaceful Muslims.
But Mansoor, who is dad to Zain, 14, Mohsin, 11 and Zara, ten, and married to Mehmooda, 41, added: “When people ask me who I am, I say I am a proud British person who happens to be Muslim.”