POLAND UKRAINE DOCTORS -- {USAGM}
Metadata
- POLAND UKRAINE DOCTORS -- {USAGM}
- May 19, 2023
- Content Type Package
- Language English
- Transcript/Script POLAND UKRAINE DOCTORS HEADLINE: US Doctors Volunteer to Heal Scars of Ukraine’s Wounded Children TEASER: The children are undergoing much-needed surgeries that have not been available in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion; the surgeries are free of charge PUBLISHED: 05/22/2023, 9:07 pm BYLINE: Lesia Bakalets CONTRIBUTOR: DATELINE: Leczna, Poland VIDEOGRAPHER: Daniil Batushchak SCRIPT EDITORS: LR; CAW PRODUCER: VIDEO SOURCES: VOA ORIGINAL PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV X_ RADIO _X_ TRT: 4:05 VID APPROVED BY: Holly Franko TYPE: TV PKG UPDATE:)) ((INTRO: )) [[A team of volunteer doctors from the United States is joining with Polish and Ukrainian colleagues to help heal the scars of some of Ukraine’s children. The children are undergoing much-needed surgeries that have not been available in Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. The procedures are free of charge. Correspondent Lesia Bakalets visited a hospital in Leczna, Poland, where it is all happening and has this report.]] ((NARRATION)) At the end of the corridor, in Ward 10, 16-year-old Yehor from the central Ukrainian city of Olexandria is waiting for surgery. Doctors will fix scars in his neck – he cannot move his head well because of them. His mother, Tetiana, is at his side. [[RADIO VERSION: She is sits by his bed, holding his hand.]] ((Tetiana Dikhtyaruk, Yehor's Mother)) ((FEMALE)) "Everything will be fine, my son; don't worry." ((NARRATION)) Yehor has many tattoos. They partially cover the scars left after an incident four years ago. ((Yehor Dikhtyaruk, Patient)) ((UKR, MALE)) "I was 12 years old when I received an electric shock of 27-thousand volts. Fifty-five percent of my body was burned." ((NARRATION)) Yehor couldn't even count how many surgeries he has had. But from the beginning of the war in Ukraine, the boy has had none. [[RADIO VERSION: Yehor Dikhtyaruk explains.]] ((Yehor Dikhtyaruk, Patient)) ((UKR, MALE)) "We don't have planned operations in Ukraine now because the war started, and almost all hospitals are filled with military personnel. So, there are only emergency surgeries.” ((NARRATION)) So, when Tetiana heard about the initiative involving American Doctor Gennadiy Fuzaylov, she immediately submitted an application. Gennadiy Fuzaylov is the founder of the organization Doctors Collaborating to Help Children. Since 2010, he has been traveling to Ukraine to operate on children with burn injuries for free. This year, because of the war, Doctor Fuzailov found an opportunity to bring his team of 11 specialists to Poland. [[RADIO VERSION: Doctor Fuzaylov talks about his team.]] ((Gennadiy Fuzaylov, Pediatric Anesthesiologist)) ((MALE IN RUSSIAN)) "I'm very proud of my team. These people are very ambitious, productive, great surgeons who practice at Harvard and Michigan Medical School, two leading schools in America. And they took vacations to come here." ((NARRATION)) Surgeon David Brown has been working with Fuzaylov for almost 10 years. The work is crucial, he says, because the children's burn injuries require constant new surgeries. ((David Brown, Plastic Surgeon)) ((ENG, MALE)) "Because as they grow, the scars don't grow. And so, the scars squeeze and restrict how they can move their arms, use their hands, or open their mouths. It's not just about how the scars look, which is terrible, but it's even more important how the child can move their arms and their legs and get around in society.” ((NARRATION)) Doctors have operated on 19 children from different regions of Ukraine. [[RADIO VERSION: Doctor Fuzaylov explains.]] ((Gennadiy Fuzaylov, Pediatric Anesthesiologist)) ((MALE IN RUSSIAN)) “Five to six surgeries were performed on each patient. And if it were not such a set of surgeons that we brought, we would not be able to perform such complex operations. On the hands, on the suturing of the nerves, tendons.” ((NARRATION)) From transportation, to housing, to food – Doctor Fuzaylov’s organization paid for everything. The Polish hospital in Leczna was responsible for medical care. [[RADIO VERSION: Doctor Piotr Tomaka, is a deputy medical director at the Independent Public Health Center in Leczna.]] ((Piotr Tomaka, Leczna Independent Public Health Care Center)) ((MALE IN ENGLISH)) “We give them access to our operating rooms, and to our wards, and we are providing medical staff to take care of the patients in preoperative and postoperative periods. We took a great part of the costs, and the hospital is paying for this, and the Polish government is paying for this.” ((NARRATION)) Ukrainian doctors take care of the rehabilitation of young patients after surgery. Plastic surgeon Artem Posunko has treated many of them at a hospital in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro. Four other Ukrainian doctors traveled to Poland with him. To him, the exchange of expertise is priceless. ((Artem Posunko, Ukrainian Plastic Surgeon)) ((MALE IN UKRAINIAN)) “We read the same books and articles, but they do something differently than we do. How can you reduce the time of the operation? How can you do less trauma, and do exactly what was planned? This is very important first of all, for our young patients.” ((NARRATION)) All three teams of doctors – U.S., Polish, and Ukrainian - say that logistics proved to be the most challenging part of this mission. But the process has already been worked out, so all participants hope to perform the operations next year.
- NewsML Media Topics Arts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
- Network VOA
- Location (dateline) Leczna, Poland
- Embargo Date May 18, 2023 21:47 EDT
- Byline Lesia Bakalets, for VOA News
- Brand / Language Service Voice of America - English