Dr Alan and Hazel Kerr have turned what could have been a quiet retirement into two decades of extraordinary service. During forty volunteer missions to Gaza and the West Bank between 2001 and 2019, often accompanied by a team from Auckland’s Starship Hospital, they have saved the lives of nearly 800 Palestinian children, and helped to build sustainable care in one of the world’s most fragile areas. Alan, a former head of cardiothoracic surgery at Green Lane Hospital, had worked fulltime in the public service with both adults and children from the early pioneering days until his retirement in 2002. He had played a leading role in the development of heart surgery in New Zealand, and had been made a Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 1997. He is regarded as the father of paediatric cardiac surgery in Palestine. Hazel, a creative dance and drama teacher by background, brought healing of a different kind through education, care and human connection.

Their legacy reaches far beyond medicine. They have trained local surgeons and ancillary staff, and redefined what service in retirement can look like. Hazel, now 86, and Alan, 90, continue to advocate for Palestinian children, quietly sharing their story through The Doctor’s Wife documentary, currently screening in community venues around Aotearoa.