Kind-hearted Kerrs THEIR BRAVE FIGHT FOR CHILDREN

The incredible couple has even inspired their Olympic medallist grandson Hamish

- Rebekah Hebenton

For most people, retirement means easing the workload and taking up relaxing hobbies.

But for celebrated cardiothoracic surgeon Dr Alan Kerr, now 90, and his wife Hazel, 85, it marked the beginning of an entirely new chapter. They spent 20 years travelling to Gaza and the West Bank on medical missions.

"I had no idea I would become so involved," tells Alan, who received the Palestinian Medal of Honour for his services in the region.

"I stopped operating in 2013, but I continued going with a New Zealand team every year to Ramallah. They were very grateful to us." Across more than 40 missions, Alan operated on 800 children, trained medical staff and helped establish paediatric cardiac units in East Jerusalem and Ramallah in the West Bank. The operating theatre in Ramallah now bears his name.

The President of the Palestine Children's Relief Fund (PCRF) approached Alan in 2001, asking him to accompany a medical team to Gaza to perform lifesaving cardiac surgeries.

Alan and Hazel had friends from Israel and Palestine, and had long been interested in visiting, so they jumped at the chance.

They were thrown in at the deep end from the first trip.

"I was operating in Gaza when 9/11 happened and news came over the radio," recalls Alan. "Hazel met Yasser Arafat [the former President of the Palestinian National Authority] when he came into the hospital the next day and donated a unit of blood as a token." This experience was also during the Second Intifada, a major Palestinian uprising aimed at ending Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. It lasted a little more than four years, with more than 4000 people killed in the violence.