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Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
National
Hamilton Wende

‘It isn’t safe’: South African first responders attacked while saving lives

South African paramedic Cecil Parsons triaging a patient [Hamilton Wende/Al Jazeera]

Johannesburg, South Africa – “I was looking down to help the patient [when] I saw someone come into the room. I saw the boots, and when I looked up I was staring into a gun.”

It’s a warm October night in Meyerton, south of Johannesburg, and Sonia*, a senior paramedic working for a private ambulance service, is recounting a particularly harrowing day at work in South Africa’s crime-ridden economic capital. She is in her early 40s and does not want to be identified to protect her privacy.

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