Top expertise at the Sportklinik Hellersen meets pioneering medical work in Libya

Zeyad Langhi, senior physician at the Deutsches Wirbelsäulen- und Skoliosezentrum, treats patients in his home country on a voluntary basis

Zeyad Langhi is a senior physician specializing in spinal surgery at the Deutsches Wirbelsäulen- und Skoliosezentrum at the Sportklinik Hellersen. Born in Libya, he came to Germany in 2005, originally with the aim of furthering his professional training. Today, he is not only a highly regarded spine specialist in Germany, but also a beacon of hope for hundreds of patients in his home country — especially in the structurally weak south of Libya.

His wife and children now live in Libya again. Two to three times a year, he travels to visit them for a few weeks and also uses the time to take care of medical care in his home country. “I know the people there and used to work in a hospital myself,” reports Zeyad Langhi. After completing his medical studies, he worked as a doctor in Libya for two and a half years. For around six years, he has been combining trips to visit his family with helping where help is urgently needed. He offers voluntary consultation hours on site. During his last visit alone, 200 people sought his advice. Some patients come with highly complex complaints because they know about the specialist's expertise – and many also want to be operated on by him directly.

However, the conditions on the ground are anything but easy: in the south of the country, there is a lack of specialists, equipment, and functioning infrastructure. Only basic care is available. “Major complex orthopedic procedures are not possible there – patients have to travel to the north, for example to Benghazi,” explains the senior physician at Sportklinik Hellersen. He himself also operates on his Libyan patients in Benghazi – in both private and state clinics. The demand is high, as is the level of trust: “Most patients come on recommendation – and every year there are more,” he says. While Zeyad Langhi specializes in special spinal surgery at the Sportklinik Hellersen, his range of operations in medical support in Libya extends from endoprosthetic procedures and arthroscopies to complex spinal operations and the treatment of serious accident injuries and trauma revisions. He is supported in planning consultations and operations on site by his nephew and his wife, who is also a doctor.