BC midwife trying to help "overwhelmed" medical units in war-torn Ukraine
It’s been two years since Russia invaded Ukraine. Since then, the country has been devastated by bombs and critically low supplies. While the situation remains volatile, that isn’t stopping one BC healthcare worker from doing everything she can to help medical teams in Ukraine.
Luba Butska is Ukrainian through and through. She was born and raised within the Ukrainian community in Toronto. So, when the invasion began, she didn’t hesitate to travel to Kyiv and provide medical assistance on the ground.
Two years on, Butska is going right back.
“We’ve got to all work together towards a world where we just simply cannot have this kind of horrible kind of dominion by violence,” she said. “I’m not a political scientist. I’m not a philosopher, but it just seems like common sense.”
Luba Butska/Submitted
During her last two visits to Ukraine, Butska helped deliver critical medical supplies on the ground with the volunteer organization Ukrainian Patriot alongside her husband, Drew Kostyniuk.
But, according to Butska, the demand for supplies combined with the delay of international aid from the US has left the medical units staggering with shortages.
“Shortages right now are really quite severe,” said Butska.
“So many previously healthy people are suddenly presenting with these incredibly traumatic injuries. So, the trauma units in Ukraine are obviously overwhelmed with all of this work.”
Butska and her husband are travelling back to Ukraine this spring along with their daughter and Butska’s 80-year-old mother. On their last trip, they worked closely with the frontline fighters, with Kostyniuk even accompanying a medical convoy to the frontline. This time, their volunteer efforts will focus more on the civilians around Ukraine.
“I think a lot of people think that if you’re volunteering, especially if you’re a health care provider, that you have to go to the frontlines, which is really scary to a lot of people,” she said. “But there’s so much to do in the rear.”
Luba Butska with her husband Drew and daughter Lada at a warehouse with supplies for Ukraine. (Luba Butska/Submitted)
In their upcoming visit, Luba will work with other healthcare workers in Ukraine to understand how “nurses and midwives have managed to keep their educational system going throughout the war.” Her daughter will most likely be helping teach English to the locals and children, while Butska’s mother will help make camouflage nets for the medical convoys.
Aside from the on-the-ground volunteer efforts, Butska noted just how important donations are to help keep the medical units running.
“Donations make a really big difference on the ground,” she said.
Butska and her family are fundraising for equipment that is specialized for treating trauma to the head and neck, which she shared is becoming more and more common for those in Ukraine. The money raised will go to a physician Butska met on her last visit to Ukraine, who will be able to buy the necessary medical gear needed for the traumatic injuries.
“A little thing that we can do is use the connection that we have with people here who want to help and people there so that we can show people actually what this physician can do with our money,” Butska said.
They are hoping to raise $8,000 for the medical gear, and the GoFundMe page can be found here.
“They’re not super-humans. They need the same tools we do,” Butska said.