In August, Patrick feared for his life when reporting on a besieged mosque in Cairo.

“While approaching [the mosque], my translator and I came under fire, so we hid in a nearby office,” Patrick says. “Then when the shooting stopped we were briefly detained by the police. Once we finally got to the mosque, a mob – probably hired by the police – surrounded me and said I was a spy, before two of them essentially abducted me on a scooter. Those two duffed me up a bit, stole my phone and laptop, and drove me for what seemed like several miles. I don't think I've ever been more frightened than on that scooter - I had no idea where we were going. Eventually I was handed over to another pair of bikers, who took me to another police station, where I was held for the afternoon before being released.”

Patrick has written front-page copy for The Guardian in equally intense circumstances: “One that particularly sticks in my mind was when police and soldiers cleared a pro-Morsi protest camp in August, killing hundreds. I wrote my piece around the corner from where a lot of people were getting shot at. There were a lot of wounded people, and it was very loud and tense. But I didn't have time to go anywhere else to file.”

Patrick says that indispensable to any journalist looking to report from dangerous areas are planning, talking to locals, and the sense to get out when things get tough. “Don't go unless you have to,” he says. “Your life – and that of those who go with you – is worth more than a story.”

He attributes a great deal of his success and survival to those he works with: “Translators and fixers are the unsung heroes of overseas journalism,” he says. “I'm heavily indebted to translators Mowaffaq Safadi, Manu Abdo, Marwa Awad, and Hamza Ashraf. As a correspondent, you get the plaudits for reporting from dangerous situations – but you're only as brave and tireless as the translator you're with.

When I investigated the killing of 51 Egyptian protesters on 8 July, the finished 5000-word article was based on about three-dozen interviews – two-thirds of which were in Arabic. I couldn't have done it without the determination of Mowaffaq, who I worked with from March to July. He had to have as much passion for the story as I did. We researched the piece over four or five days; Mowaffaq was always up for one more interview. I owe him a lot.” 

Despite what he’s experienced, being an Egypt correspondent hasn’t magically given Patrick’s nerves of steel: “Has reporting during hairy situations made me an adrenaline junkie? No, I don't think so. If anything, it has made me the opposite. I'm more aware of the dangers of taking risks.”

But, he says, “Egypt is a country in the middle of huge change in so many ways, and it's a privilege to witness this at close range.”

For more articles, jobs and opportunities, visit our Writing and Publishing hub.