Ukrainian Amputees Steel and Heal in the US, Visit San Francisco
April 18th – Soldier and civilian amputees, the nonprofit foundation that outfits them with prosthetics, and interpreters will be available for interviews in San Francisco April 20, 21, and on Treasure Island on April 22.
War always has its collateral damage, its widows and orphans. In Vietnam that included Agent Orange and napalmed jungles. In Iraq, a countryside littered with spent uranium anti-tank shells.
In Ukraine the damage is more intentional than collateral, cities of rubble with blown up infrastructure and people with blown off limbs.
Like the newly organized legions of utility men patching generators and power lines, a new breed of prosthetic makers has sprung up to patch arms and legs back on soldiers and civilians. The amputees fly halfway around the world where they find strangers who greet them as family. They get state-of-the-art prosthetics and rehabilitation therapy sponsored by Protez Foundation, before heading back home to their loved ones.
Like the feelings of relief and hope when the lights and heat come back after days of cold and despair, the ones these doctors, nurses and craftsmen call “heroes” are renewed, and go back to their lives with dignity.
Each case is a life-changing miracle for them, and more miracles are limited mostly by the resources available.
Treasure Island Wines and Umbriaso, in association with Protez Foundation, are hosting a fundraising event to expand those resources and multiply those miracles. We invite you to join us for a special event at our winery on Treasure Island for an afternoon of music, food and wine Saturday, April 22, and a chance to meet some of these renewed heroes and the amazing miracle workers of the Protez Foundation who make it happen.
The visiting Ukrainians will be available for interviews on Thursday, April 20 and Friday, April 21 by appointment only in San Francisco (call 612-412-0733) and Saturday, April 22 before, during and after the event on Treasure Island. They will include:
Vadym Fedorov, a 30-year old sergeant, has dedicated 10 years to the Ukrainian Army. Defending Ukraine, he lost two legs with high amputations. Vadym is currently in the USA undergoing prosthetics fitting and rehabilitation.
Eugene Sitenko, a 33-year old from Northern Ukraine, has been fighting against Russian aggression since 2014. He lost his leg in 2014, and since then has been defending Ukraine without a limb.
Mykola Sarazhynskyy from Protez Foundation will accompany Vadym and Eugene on the trip to San Francisco. Mykola joined the efforts as the first group of soldiers arrived last summer. He organizes events for visiting soldiers in Minnesota and other states.
Among the nearly 800 Ukrainians who have signed up for help, the clinic has equipped almost 60 people with prosthetic devices so far, according to Dr. Yakov Gradinar, the chief medical officer at Protez, including children and other civilians.
One of the children is Artem, a 16-year old boy who lost his leg while playing soccer when Russians shot at them in Mariupol. Artem is coming from Europe to be fitted with prosthetics in Minneapolis.
Protez has fitted two other boys, Oleksandr (12-years old) from Mariupol and Artem (9 years old) from the Kyiv area, who lost limbs during the war. The Kyiv boy lost his arm when Russians shot at the civilian house from a tank while his father carried him to safety, and his brother was running by their side. As a result of the explosion, the father and the brother died right away, and the boy lost his arm.
Protez also fitted an arm prosthetic for one other civilian man from Bucha. He was fleeing in a car while Russian troops shot at them.
Protez Foundation is on a mission to bring hope for the brave people of Ukraine who lost their limbs due to the war and outfit them with high quality prosthetics. Please join Treasure Island Wines and Umbriaso fundraiser to make this hope a reality for other people who are waiting to return to their normal life after their world was turned upside down in an instant.
