03:37

A vascular surgeon who operated on a four-year-old girl who was critically injured in Friday’s Mosque attack wept while describing her condition to reporters in Christchurch on Wednesday afternoon.

Dr Adib Khanafer, known in typical Kiwi fashion as Eddie, said he was completing another surgery when he was told he was needed in an emergency operation.

Speaking through tears, Khanafer said he was “really sad to see a young girl on the table with vascular injury” but that repairing her injury was a “highlight of my career.”

“I have four kids,” Khanafer said. “The youngest is 7, the oldest is 14, and I just imagine this was one of my kids. I was able to do my job and I left my emotions until after… after I had repaired her.

“I am from England. I am a Muslim. And I am Arab. And all my colleagues, Kiwis, have not stopped emailing me, texting me, and sending me flowers.”

The girl was transferred to Starship Children’s Hospital in Auckland on Friday night, and her father, who was also in intensive care, was transferred to another hospital in Auckland on Saturday.

Dr Dominic Fleischer, who was the lead clinician in the emergency department on Friday, said he did not expect to see a traumatic event like this in Christchurch.

“I still expect the next big earthquake, but nothing like this,” he said.

Fleischer said that only one of the 48 people who made it to hospital died after arrival. He commended all hospital staff for ensuring that patients received the best care available.

“We never ran out of trauma teams,” he said. “No patient waited to be seen… everyone was seen as soon as they got to us.”