A Red Cross nurse who ‘played God’ during Ethiopia’s devastating famine has opened up today to mark 40 years since the iconic BBC broadcast that stunned the world.
Dame Claire Bertschinger, 71, recalled in a heartbreaking interview how she was forced to pick which malnourished children to feed while battling on the frontline at a remote aid station in Mekele, Tigray Province.
She told the Mirror: ‘At first I had suggested the local staff chose them, but they refused, saying, ‘They’re our brothers, our sisters, our cousins. How can we? You must do it, Claire. We can’t.
‘The pressure was unbearable. They must have thought I was playing God, but I certainly didn’t feel like a god’.
The former nurse and advocate went on to explain the ‘guilt’ and ‘shame’ she felt, knowing she could only save a handful of children while sending the rest to ‘certain death’.
‘I felt like someone condemning innocent people to the death camps. I have lived with that ever since,’ she added.
Dame Claire Bertschinger, 71, recalled having to choose which malnourished children to save during the famine which ravaged Ethiopia in the 1980s (pictured in 2004)
‘I felt like someone condemning innocent people to the death camps. I have lived with that ever since,’ she said. Pictured: Bertschinger with children during the famine
Bertschinger recalled feeling as if she had changed the lives of the people she had saved, but the thought that more children died than survived still lingers in her mind
Bertschinger said that following the devastating situation, she still battles the painful memories to this day.
She recalled some of the children’s names and remembered playing games with one of the youngsters, but has never forgotten those that died.
While flicking through images from her time at the rescue centre, she told how she once had to choose just 60 to 70 children out of 1,000 who were all malnourished.
There were so few resources available that she had no choice but to choose who would be fed and saved.
She came to the decision to choose those with ‘a spark of life in their eyes’ as the others were on the brink of death and would die in the coming days.
Claire explained: ‘I would take the ones who had sort of a spark of life in their eyes, and just mark them.
‘I marked them with a bit of coal on their head, on their arm, and I knew the rest would not survive the next ten days, because there was no food’.
Bertschinger recalled feeling as if she had changed the lives of the people she had saved, but the thought that more children died than survived still lingers in her mind.
Photo’s of of the crisis dredged up tragic memories for the aid worker, who shared to the publication that the mothers at the time would leave a small tuft of hair on their child’s head in the belief that it would be used to pull them up to heaven.
It was Bertschinger’s first time in Africa when she carried out her rescue work in Ethiopia, after having worked in Leeds A&E.
‘I was the only British person at the time. I had no experience in famine. You didn’t have time to reflect. I was working seven days a week – 6am to 6pm. We only had candles for light,’ she said.
The country’s food shortages and hunger crisis from 1983 to 1985 leading to an estimated one million famine deaths
Buerk’s report was aired on the BBC news, including his questioning of Claire and his famous description of the feeding centre as ‘the closest thing to hell on Earth’
At the Mile Feeding Station in the midst of the Ethiopian famine, a mother holds her child while waiting for food, March 12, 1984
Bertschinger came to the decision to choose those with ‘a spark of life in their eyes’ as the others were on the brink of death and would die in the coming days
Millions more people were displaced and left destitute, without resources to rebuild their lives
The crushing interview comes 40 years after the BBC broadcast a report by journalist Michael Buerk which drew the worlds attention to the devastating famine.
Haunting footage in the 1984 BBC News report by Buerk – which showed Bertschinger caring for the babies – shocked the world.
The harrowing film, which aired four decades ago today, would go on to inspire charity Band Aid single Do They Know It’s Christmas? — followed by the Live Aid concert the next year — and raise around £120million for the African country.
Do They Know It’s Christmas? went straight to No1 in December 1984.
And the following year, Live Aid, hosted simultaneously at Wembley stadium and the John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, was beamed around the world, featuring performances from huge acts, including Queen and Elton John.
For the 20th anniversary in 2004, Claire went back to Ethiopia with Michael Buerk.
Buerk’s report was aired on the BBC news, including his questioning of Claire and his famous description of the feeding centre as ‘the closest thing to hell on Earth’.
Bertschinger shared her thoughts on the initial report which she claims made all the difference after it shone a light onto the situation and opened the outside world’s eyes to the crisis.
Michael Buerk would later describe Claire as ‘one of the true heroines of our times’.
The practising Buddhist, who retired from her role as a lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in January, believes there needs to be more understanding in the world.
Bertschinger continues her work today as a a trustee and ambassador for The African Children’s Educational Trust, and Patron for Promise Nepal – an organisation that helps leprosy sufferers and their families
The 1980s Ethiopian famine was one of the worst humanitarian events of the 20th century
Mothers at the time would leave a small tuft of hair on their child’s head in the belief that it would be used to pull them up to heaven
Bertschinger who worked in Ethiopia as a nurse during the famine in 1984 receives the ‘Women of the Year Window to the World’ award at the 50th Women of the Year awards London, Thursday 3 November 2005
After leaving Ethiopia, she went on to work in more than a dozen war-torn regions around the world, from Afghanistan to the Ivory Coast and Lebanon.
She continues her work today as a a trustee and ambassador for The African Children’s Educational Trust, and Patron for Promise Nepal – an organisation that helps leprosy sufferers and their families.
Bertschinger also continues to work very hard to train nurses from all over the world.
On Friday, she and Michael Buerk, along with others, will hold a talk at the London School of Economics about the Ethiopian famine and fundraising efforts.
The 1980s Ethiopian famine was one of the worst humanitarian events of the 20th century, with the country’s food shortages and hunger crisis from 1983 to 1985 leading to an estimated one million famine deaths, according to the United Nations.
Millions more people were displaced and left destitute, without resources to rebuild their lives.
The famine was sparked following recurring droughts, failed harvests, food scarcity, conflict that kept aid from reaching people in occupied territory, and government policies that relocated families and routed relief to certain areas.
Aid organisations, including World Vision, rallied to bring relief to the starving children and families during the crisis but it would not be enough.
It was only when Buerk’s BBC report was aired in October 1984, masses were moved to donate to the relief efforts.