SABAH (91)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Interviewed and Compiled by Fatemeh Doustkami
Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

2022-1-4

SABAH (91)

Memoirs of Sabah Vatankhah

Interviewed and Compiled by Fatemeh Doustkami

Translated by Natalie Haghverdian

Published by Soore Mehr Publishing Co.

Persian Version 2019

Mr. Ghorbani was attending to the martyr. He tried to find specifications on them and looked into their pockets. If he found an ID, he wrote down and if there was any specific item with the martyr, he placed it in a plastic bag and kept it to be handed over to their families. At the end, he sent them to the morgue.

Most of the nights, we would work till sunrise. We sent some injured to operation room. We took some of them for x-ray. We were so busy that we didn’t notice that it was Morning Prayer. Most of the days, we didn’t have the chance to drink a glass of water or tea and fasted.

In one of these nights, Dr. Mandegar did an open-heart surgery with the least possibilities. I was in operation room all the time. The patient was a twenty two, three years old young man and a small quiver had hit his heart’s pericardium and was unconscious. When Dr. Mandegar saw his chest s-ray, he said: “His life is in danger and he has to be operated. If the quiver moves, it will enter his heart and kill him.”

Besides that a big quiver had hit his thigh and the foot was on the verge of amputation and had to be operated quickly. The situation of the patient was so grave that none of the surgeries could be postponed. Dr. Mandegar and Dr. Habibollah Zadeh decided to do both surgeries simultaneously.

The personnel of the operation room took action immediately. We first washed the chest of the wounded patient. I didn’t know what open-heart surgery was. I didn’t know that the two centimeter rapture on his chest will turn into a forty centimeter and deep hole with two hundred stitches. We washed our hands and were standing in third Hed[1]. The third head was the third group away from the patient. The first head were the physicians and the second head were technicians. During the surgery when the suture, Betadine, Savlon, serum or blood sacks were needed, we brought them quickly and made them ready for use. Sometimes when the injured had severe bleeding and it was needed to locate veins to inject blood, we helped in this process.

Dr. Mandegar made a gap on his chest between third and fourth ribs. Then two individuals from second head placed a device such as hook between the ribs with pressure. They did this with so much haste and pressure that the bed and the injured was shaking badly. When I saw their efforts, I felt bad. My blood pressure had fallen but I wanted to stay until the end of the operation. The device divided the ribs. The rib bone had an elastic specification and divided without breaking. A gap measuring twenty centimeters was created.

The surgeon took his hands inside the gap and took the heart gently. The heart was beating in his hands. He placed the heart in a special container and took the small quiver which was stuck in the heart’s pericardium and threw it in gallipot. We were shocked to see the heart and its beatings; Dr. Mandegar was relaxed and was stitching the pericardium. When he was done, he placed the heart in its place gently.

On the other side Dr. Habibollah Zadeh and his assistants were working on the foot and were trying to preserve the foot from amputation. The patient had four open vessels; two on his foot and one on the hand and the other on the neck. We were short of blood. I ran outside and grabbed a few packs of blood from blood bank. The operation room had only two devices to warm the blood. We placed two packs of blood on them to warm the bloods. We place the rest under our arms to warm them with our body temperature.

During the whole surgery of Dr. Mandegar, the suction was sucking the blood in the hole and the technicians dried the remaining bloods with big sterile gauzes. Then the doctor separated the ribs from the hook and stitched the surrounding muscles. The operation on the foot was also ending. Thanks God the injured had endured.

The two physicians had worked miracle. I understood the meaning of genius right at that spot. The operation lasted until dawn. We handed over the injured to the recovery. When we came out of the operation room my shoulder and waist were colic. The main task had been done by the doctors but I had lost all my energy!

Although Dr. Mandegar, Akashe and Habibollah Zadeh stayed in the hospital for one month and returned to Tehran after their plan was over but during this time they had worked round the clock and their output was three times more that the activities of other physicians who came to the hospital for their one month plan. All three physicians worked three shifts and sleeping and resting had no meaning for them. When they left, they were missed for a while.

On the day after the surgery, Shahnaz and I wanted to go to the city to walk around and do some shopping. We went out of the hospital and to the opposite side of the street and waited for a car. A few minutes later, the army car appeared from far. I waved and they stopped and get us in but they didn’t pay attention and accelerated and went!

At that moment, the ground shook under my feet and the pressure of the air spiked me to where I was standing. Smog and dust was everywhere. I couldn’t move, it was as if somebody had stitched my feet to the ground. Shahnaz had the same condition. I heard the voice of the hospital guard. He was shouting and saying: “Come and see, Vatan Khah sisters have been martyred!”

Although I heard the backward movement of the army vehicle but for one instance I felt that we have both been martyred. It took a few instances for the dust to pass. I looked at myself and my body. I was safe. There was no sign of wound or blood. I only felt confused, heavy and dumb. Shahnaz was also covered in dust but she was not wounded. I hardly moved my hands and feet and tried to move. Two, three meters away from us a mortar bomb had hit the ground and had created a hole. I called Shahnaz. She answered. I asked: “Are you fine?” She said: “I am fine. Are you fine?! Are you safe?!” I said: “Yes, I am fine.”

The dust had disappeared. The old guard and two, three members of the army forces were looking at us stunned and confused. Nobody even ourselves couldn’t believe that we survived this explosion and dust and fire.  The old man said surprised: “Girls, are you really fine?! Thanks God! Thanks God!”

The emergency personnel arrived and surrounded us. They all said that this was a miracle. How is this possible that a mortar bomb hits so near and nothing happens?! The mortar bomb had exploded in soil and the quivers were spread in the ground. A few minutes later one of the army forces insisted that we get on their car and get us wherever we want to go. We were fine. we got in and went to the city.

I called home every other day from the hospital. I called Mr. Zeyneddin’s office and asked him to call my mother or one of my sisters; once, Saleheh answered. After greeting, I asked: “What is up?” She said: “Nothing Sabbah! You were not here last night when we were being beaten!” I was worried and asked: “Why? What has happened?” She said: “Nothing. Ferdows and I had gone to Ferdowsi square. A group of Mojahedin Khalgh members had come and were saying lies to people loudly. They were saying why do you send your young sons to frontline to be killed? Who says that we have to compensate for the government? Families have raised their children with lots of efforts and now they send them to be killed with cannons and tanks?

People had gathered them and were watching. We saw that if we keep silent, they will continue their shows and will put fear into the hearts of people. We started arguing with them. In the middle of argument they started beating us. We got into a fight with them. There was a girl in their group who was a professional Kung Fu specialist. She kicked Ferdows and me a lot! My body still hurts!”

When I imagined the garbling situation, I felt laughing and at the same time felt pity for my sisters. I said: “Ok! What happened at the end?” She said: “The committee members came and took the girl. Sabbah you can’t believe how skillful she was, even the committee members couldn’t handle her!”

I knew that the members of Mojahedin Khalgh organization underwent special trainings. One of these trainings was self-defense, Karate and Kung Fu. Now one of these trained individuals had faced my sisters. I asked about the situation in Tehran. Its safety and peace was important for us. Peace in Tehran brought peace in frontline. Its safety was equal to psychological safety of families of many fighters. On the other side, the presence of a President such as Bani-Sadr was a nightmare and we were always worried about his actions. Therefore, when we heard that there has been a conflict or unrest in the streets of Tehran, we felt worried.

To be continued …