On May 20, 2015, a team of Canadian health professionals returned home from completing their second medical mission in Ukraine. The mission was organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation which supported a team of 22 professionals comprised mostly of volunteers, including surgeons, anesthetists and nurses from all across Canada. The Canadian team worked alongside Ukrainian doctors and nurses to perform complex reconstructive surgeries on victims of the Euromaidan movement and from the battle in Eastern Ukraine.
Forty-nine patients from across Ukraine with post-traumatic defects and deformities were seen in consultation in Kyiv’s Ukrainian Military Hospital. A total of 53 operations took place between May 10-16, 2015; totalling 116 operating hours.
Krystina Waler, a volunteer and coordinator of the mission in an interview with the New Pathway said this mission was perhaps even better than the last. “The medical team felt more like a family” she said. “It solidified that the first mission wasn’t a fluke. We were meant to come back”.
During the 6 days in Kyiv, the medical team’s procedures included: 13 upper extremity reconstructions, 5 skull reconstructions, 14 facial soft tissue (nose/eyelid/lip/cheek/scalp) reconstructions, and 20 facial bone reconstructions (mandible, orbit, midface, nose).
“During this mission we focused our efforts primarily on injuries to the skull and face. The majority of the injuries sustained by the patients were shrapnel/explosive wounds and gunshot wounds,” said Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn, Head of the Adult Craniofacial Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor of Plastic Surgery, University of Toronto. “Multiple procedures were done in many patients, by one or two surgical teams, working concurrently or consecutively. And perhaps most importantly, we have already identified 10 patients for major reconstructive surgery on our next mission.”
Waler told the New Pathway about two cases of men that were shot in the face – one was hit by a sniper and the other was trying to commit suicide. Both men who were eating using straws, with the tremendous donations of Stryker plates, were able to have their faces reconstructed. Normally in Ukraine this particular procedure would be treated with cheaper equipment that they could afford, and the fix would only last a week.
Krystina Waler told the New Pathway about one civilian woman that had shrapnel wounds across half her face: “No Ukrainian doctors wanted to touch her. The team met with her and told her they could do the surgery in 2 parts. She was so shell-shocked that anyone wanted to help her. She decided in the end not to go through with the operation. She said she would come back in 6 months”.
“The most difficult part of the mission,” Waler explains, “is actually finding the injured soldiers and getting them to come in and meet with us”. Once released due to injury, records show that most go home to be with their families although many do not want to come in for surgery; they are skeptical that the surgery would be free.
When asked about the soldiers that came in for consultation and operation, Waler explains that they are all different. Some are quiet and to themselves, some refuse local anesthetic, some wake up and start singing “Putin ***”. All are dealing with loss in different ways. “Post-traumatic stress disorder is very real” she says.
When asked if there would be another mission, Waler told The New Pathway that there would be two more taking place. “We already have 12 patients signed up for the next mission”, she says. “During this mission we did follow-ups with previous patients to see and discuss their progress. We have also learned a lot from the first mission. For example, the importance of follow-up care: this time, the medications prescribed to the patients were there, ready to go”.
During this medical mission, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Rob Nicholson visited the Ukrainian Military Hospital. He met with patients and Canadian and Ukrainian medical professionals. Just prior to his visit the Government of Canada announced $1.2 million in support for building additional health care capacity in the Ukrainian military.
“I am grateful to the Canadian Government for supporting the Ukrainian Military Hospital through the Canada Ukraine Foundation”, said Victor Hetmanczuk, President of the Canada Ukraine Foundation. “These funds will go towards much needed equipment to increase their capacity to treat wounded Ukrainian soldiers”.
Funding for both medical missions comes largely from “United for Ukraine”, a fundraiser organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation in September 2014, attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Wayne Gretzky. The Toronto fundraiser was attended by almost 1200 people and raised upwards of $200,000. Eugene Melnyk and Bohdan Onyschuk co-chaired the fundraising efforts for the mission.
“I am grateful to the Canada Ukraine Foundation and to the thousands of Canadians who donated to our mission,” said Dr. Antonyshyn.
The Canada Ukraine Foundation is thankful for the support of Stryker Canada, which once again awarded the medical mission a grant which provided for virtually all surgical hardware and implant materials for the medical procedures.
Stryker Canada specifically bent over backwards in order for their products to be reached in time by victims of the war in Ukraine. When the Ukrainian and German Stryker counterparts couldn’t deliver products in time, Ukrainian-Canadian Anka Wrzesnewskyj was able to bring them to Ukraine via airplane as her carry-on, with the cooperation of the Canadian government and airport security in one day.
The second successful medical mission was truly the work of a giving community as many people volunteered their to help. The sponsors of United for Ukraine include: Eugene Melnyk, Canadian Tire, Molson Coors Canada, the Temerty Family, the Ihnatowycz Family, Bell Canada, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Jacyk Foundation, the Ukrainian Credit Union Limited, Buduchnist Credit Union, Caravan Logistics, Yarcia Huculak and Family, CIBC, Manulife, and Community Trust Credit Union.
The Canada Ukraine Foundation was established by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to coordinate, develop, organize and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine. It is a registered charitable foundation. Donations for the next medical mission and other projects may be made at www.cufoundation.ca.
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