Walking Free

About this book

One mans phenomenal tale of escaping a death sentence in Iraq surviving the Australian Refugee system and becoming a pioneering surgeon at the forefront of orthopedic medicine In 1999 Munjed Al Muderis was a young surgical resident working in Baghdad when a squad of Military Police marched into the operating theater and ordered the surgical team to mutilate the ears of three busloads of army deserters. When the head of surgery refused he was executed in front of his staff. Munjeds choices were starkcomply and breach the medical oath "do no harm " refuse and face certain death or flee. That day Munjeds life changed forever. He escaped to Indonesia where he boarded a filthy overcrowded refugee boat bound for Australia. Like his fellow passengers he hoped for a new life free from fear and oppression but for 10 months he was incarcerated in what became known as the worst of the refugee camps Curtin Detention Centre in Western Australia. There he was known only by a number locked in solitary confinement and repeatedly told to go back to Iraq. On August 26 2000 Munjed was finally freed. Now 14 years later he is one of the worlds leading osseointegration surgeons transforming the lives of amputees with a pioneering technique that allows them to walk again. This is Munjeds extraordinary account of his journey from the brutality of Saddam Husseins Iraq to a new life in Australia and a remarkable career at the forefront of medicine.