VIDEO: A day under fire with an East Ghouta first responder

In the Damascus suburb of Douma, one of several farming towns encircled by regime forces for nearly four years, medical infrastructure is buckling under the combined pressure of siege and near-daily shelling and air strikes.

Since 2012, bombing raids have destroyed or damaged 10 of Douma’s hospitals, killing at least 20 medical professionals, according to a report by Amnesty International last August.

One first responder, Abu Mahmoud, gathered a group of volunteers who converted vans into ambulances to meet the demand. In this Syria Direct dispatch from Douma, Abu Mahmoud tells the story of pulling a dying six-year-old boy from the rubble earlier that same day, and the message Abu Mahmoud was asked to convey to his mother.