MAKKAH: Saudi Minister of Health Fahad Al-Jalajel has named 65-year-old retired doctor and volunteer Dr. Samiha Sinan the “Mother of Volunteers.”

“One retires from office work, not from serving pilgrims,” Al-Jalajel said, praising Sinan’s efforts in providing health care to pilgrims.

Sinan told Arab News that volunteering to serve pilgrims is a work of great honor if done sincerely and honestly. 

She worked as an internal medicine doctor for 43 years in several Saudi hospitals, retiring four years ago.

As soon as the pandemic hit across the world, placing great pressure on the health sector, Sinan jumped back into the field to help out.

“I am still able to give, and I tried to think of how a person could serve their religion, country and king, so I submitted a request on the volunteer platform at the Ministry of Health. I was afraid I would be rejected given my age, but my instinct told me to apply because I wanted to give and serve. The Ministry of Health approved my request, and I immediately decided to get back in the field and fight the pandemic,” she said.

Sinan added: “The Makkah health authorities tried to put my comfort first and asked me to work in a small medical clinic in Makkah, but I refused since the pandemic was growing stronger. I headed directly to a COVID-19 center in an isolated area in Al-Masfalah, in Makkah. No one was allowed to enter or leave, but we worked in a comfortable environment thanks to the measures the state had taken to support citizens. I volunteered there for two years, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Even though COVID-19 has witnessed a steady decline in the Kingdom over the past few months, Sinan still volunteers in one of the squares at the Grand Mosque by providing medical care to injured pilgrims.