Many patients brought in to the operation theatre are children caught up in gun violence.
By the time they reach the remote village the shootout has spilt to the airstrip where they were planning to land.
With no way of safely reaching the wedding guests they divert their helicopter, hoping the gunfire will die down.
But the hail of bullets continues and they’re eventually forced to abandon the rescue mission, leaving the wounded with little prospect of making it to hospital.
Mr Box, who recently returned home to Australia, said it was a sad reality of life in a country ravaged by bloodshed.
The 41-year-old operating theatre nurse has become a specialist at patching up patients in conflict zones.
At a week’s notice, he can be sent to a new war-torn region.
He has been based for years as a clinical manager at Epping’s Northern Hospital but spends months at a time away from Australia through his work with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Kieren Box has been working in a bush hospital in Ganyiel, South Sudan.
Last year he arrived in northern Nigeria two months after two nurses and a driver from Red Cross were abducted. All three were later killed by militants.
His most recent job was a seven-month stint in South Sudan, flying between three mobile medical units helping the country’s fledgling healthcare sector cope with the alarming rate of gun violence.