Australian Story: Momentum - Mohammed "Dr Mo" Mustafa

"The whole world is watching in horror of what's going on, and people want to feel like they're doing something." - Dr Mo 

The situation in Gaza has caused outrage and a sense of helplessness but Perth-based doctor Mohammed "Dr Mo" Mustafa is determined to focus the world's attention on solutions. After gaining prominence for his harrowing social media posts from the warzone, where he twice volunteered as an emergency doctor, he wants to harness that profile to get a children's hospital built there.

Now an Australian citizen, Dr Mo was raised in England, the son of Palestinian refugees. Starting high school a few days after 9/11, he was bullied relentlessly but always stood up for himself and fought back. At 6'3" and 120kg, he excelled at sport, winning world titles in jujitsu and competing in MMA. He was dubbed "Beast from the Middle East" when he played professional rugby as a medical student – which is how he's known to followers around the world on Instagram.

Dr Mo understands that what's happening in Gaza seems complicated to many people, but he's urging us to put politics aside and focus on what matters – saving the lives of children. 

"There's a lot of pain that I've got," he tells Australian Story. "But if I can put aside the pain and I can focus on something positive, then maybe people from the other side can also put aside their pain as well and focus on the positive."

Over the past few months Australian Story has followed Dr Mo's journey from an outback hospital in the Kimberley to the halls of power in Canberra and beyond as he processes the trauma of what he's seen and sells his dream of a children's hospital personally to political leaders around the world.

"I just wanted to make sure that my voice was heard so often and so many times on so many different platforms that we would become undeniable," he tells Australian Story. "I'm not a hero. I'm just a guy that just refuses to give up." 

Producer: Amos Roberts.

Monday 4 August, 8pm on ABC TV and ABC iview

Momentum: Mohammed "Dr Mo" Mustafa