Shropshire nurse goes back to help needy refugees on Greek island

Carrie Davies, 55, described her two-weeks in Kos as "heartbreaking" but says she has no choice but to return to help thousands of refugees who have landed there after crossing from neighbouring Turkey in small boats.

The mother-of-three, from Llanymynech near Oswestry said: "I have left my heart behind, I have to return."

The majority of refugees in Kos are fleeing conflict in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan and many are sleeping on the streets, in tents or abandoned buildings.

Carrie, who has taken time off work in order to travel a second time tomorrow, has told of the harrowing conditions migrants face after reaching dry land.

The holiday island has seen thousands arriving, with refugees often mixing with tourists enjoying their holiday.

"I saw terrible suffering as everyday people made the highly dangerous journey across from Turkey in small dinghies," she said. "Sometimes they would make it alive but many times they didn't.

"The two weeks were a real rollercoaster of emotion and sadness. There was a feeling of happiness when we fed so many starving people, yet I also saw and heard the stuff of nightmares. Every day we would feed as many refugees as possible, but it's never enough and there is always a family that goes hungry.

"The refugees are just like you and I – lovely and caring people – and I just hope and pray they will be treated well on their onward journey; sadly somehow I don't think this will always happen. Every day there is another hungry mouth, another soaked and crying baby. This will carry on as long as we let it.

"I cannot help feeling these people are being forgotten about and therefore I cannot simply go back to my cosy life while suffering carries on throughout Europe."

Carrie has set up her own Go Fund Me account www.gofundme.com/mh7gj5ak with the aim of raising £10,000 to buy food, clothing, tents, medical aids and medicines.

"I have so far raised more than £1,000 and that means almost 2,000 meals as we can feed people a really nutritious meal for as little as 60p each," she said.

"Not a penny of what I raise will be wasted. I have seen heartbreaking, terrible suffering and I will keep on helping until I can help no more."

The stores department at the hospital has donated a number of obsolete items to Carrie to take with her.

Nina Williams, from the department, said: "What Carrie is doing is fantastic. We have all followed the crisis and wanted to do what we could to help."

As the crisis continues, David Cameron has said he is willing to commit almost half a billion pounds of the UK's aid budget over the next five years in an effort to stop the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe.

The Prime Minister is prepared to offer £275million over the next two years to Turkey to help it cope with the scale of the refugee crisis it faces.

The money comes on top of £200million pledged to 2020 to help African countries address some of the problems which have driven many migrants out of their homes.

The extra support on offer for Turkey will be set out as EU leaders gather for a meeting after the conclusion of an international summit on the migrant crisis in Malta.

A Number 10 source said: "We are sat in the western Mediterranean which was the focus at the start of the crisis but in recent months the focus has been on the route from Turkey to Greece where you see a lot more of the numbers of Syrian refugees as opposed to the route where we are today."