54km for 54 Colleagues: Rachael's Ultra Marathon for MAP
21 April 2026
The only kind of organisation I know would make sure all of the funds go directly to the people that they're meant to is through MAP.
Rachael Moses, a UK based Physiotherapist, has just completed the Northumberland 54km Ultra Marathon on Sunday 8th March, raising nearly £2,000 and counting for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) in memory of her colleagues who have been killed during the past two years of genocide in Gaza.
The distance was deliberate: 54 kilometres for 54 colleagues killed in Gaza over the past two years. Running along the Northumberland coast, Rachael found herself thinking of Gaza's once beautiful coastline, now devastated by Israeli military assault.
Rachael witnessed local healthcare professionals in Gaza enduring; living in a tent, no running water, no place of safety - a reality that most people would not be able to bare. She also saw the strength and the determination of Palestinians every day. “They turn up to work day in, day out, working 20 hours a day, non-stop.”
In Gaza, Rachael worked alongside the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organisation, and local teams, delivering hands-on clinical training across orthopaedic trauma, critical care paediatrics, musculoskeletal, and women's health.
When she left Gaza in September 2025, Rachael noted how people would always ask her why she goes back to Gaza more than anywhere else she had worked. “It is an honour and a privilege to be able to do so. It is not a job, it is not a task, it is a privilege.”
Anybody that has been to Gaza before and worked with Palestinian people will know you always leave a little bit of your heart in Palestine every time you go.
Physiotherapy is a crucial component of MAP’s disability inclusion and rehabilitation programme in Gaza. We manage long-term rehabilitation plans for thousands of people injured by Israeli military attacks. This includes physiotherapy, occupational therapy, mental health services, and speech therapy.
Gaza is home to the biggest community of child amputees, and children’s speech is deeply impacted by trauma.
The work healthcare workers in Gaza do rehabilitating Palestinians with lifelong injuries and impediments is essential. As Rachael reflects, rehabilitation is about giving people their life back, “surviving just isn't enough.”
“Palestinians are normal, everyday people. They're people like you and me. Nobody deserves the suffering that they are subjected to, not only now, but for decades… That is the story that I want to tell about my Palestinian colleagues, that they are the most genuine, kind, compassionate, committed, dedicated people and professionals I have ever worked with. And that's why I continue to support, and that's why I will go back”
MAP’s work would not be possible without physiotherapists like Rachael who volunteer their time, and raise funds for these essential projects. Local teams on the ground in Gaza have given their lives so that fellow Palestinians in Gaza can get their lives back. The bombing hasn’t stopped, Rachael reminds us; “death and devastation is still around you everywhere."
“But I think of the strength and determination of the people of Gaza to keep going to work, whether that be in a tent, whether that be in a building that could get bombed any moment, an operating theatre that could be taken over by, the armed forces at any point.
“The psychological torment of that is huge. And we, the international community, will need to [provide] support for years, decades to come.”
If you wanted to support Palestinians and fundraise to do that, that is very, very rewarding. You don't have to aim for big numbers. I mean, every penny counts.
Thank you so much to Rachael for her fundraising efforts and thank you to every rehabilitation professional in Gaza working every single day. Your dedication does not go unseen.
