Despite the aftermath of a lethal Russian missile assault last Monday, which caused significant damage and left one construction flattened, another stripped of its front and littered the area with piles of wreckage, distorted steel and a crushed car, operations has carried on unabated at Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, Ohmatdyt.
As things presently stand, volunteers are tirelessly removing detritus and ensuring the facility is well-stocked while experts evaluate the impact of the strike and engage in resolutions for refurbishing the establishment. Simultaneously, medical practitioners endeavour to salvage medical instruments, revive critical services and provide treatment to those patients that remain post-attack.
When chaos struck, Oleh Godik, the transplant team’s director, was shielded by a collapsing cabinet from shards of glass and other ravages within his eighth-level office. Fully aware that he hadn’t sustained injuries, he descended to organise his medical team and assist patients at the ground-level casualty ward that suffered the blow. As he recounts, patients were promptly tended to and relocated by ambulance services to various hospitals throughout the city.
However, some children remained in the hospital throughout. These included children who had undergone liver transplants and were initially relocated to the basement bomb shelter, before moving back to the children’s unit. More critical cases were transferred to other hospitals while those stable stayed on.
Godik himself narrowly escaped with a minor forehead cut. However, tragedy hit when a kidney specialist from his team lost his life and another physician incurred a severe head wound. Furthermore, a parent of a patient was killed, and two children who were gravely ill prior to the strike passed away in another hospital. At Ohmatdyt alone, where approximately 670 children were admitted and a staff of 1,000 were on duty, over 20 individuals were harmed when the missile, loaded with around 400kg explosives, made its impact.
Various locations in Kyiv, inclusive of another medical institution and a residential building, as well as the eastern cities of Dnipro, Kings Rih, and Pokrovsk all fell victim to missile strikes, resulting in over 40 casualties and approximately 200 wounded. It was indeed one of civilian life’s deadliest days in recent times amidst Russia’s comprehensive warfare against its pro-western neighbours.
Despite the considerable damages, the emergency unit is already operative, with some other services partially so. It is anticipated that in a matter of days, the outpatients’ transplant assistance will be recommenced, with surgical procedures expected to follow in a fortnight or so, as per the statement by Godik. Over the past weekend, 50 young oncology patients made a return to Ohmatdyt to continue their treatments.
Despite the scorching sun and 35-degree weather outdoors, inside the rooms it’s quite solemn due to the damaged condition. Illuminated by faint light seeping in through the boards nailed over ruined windows, Oleksandr Mukhopad scrutinises costly medical apparatus, uncertain of their reparability.
He declared that the trauma centre of Ohmatdyt is currently in an unusable state, with all its facilities battered. He is in charge of the residual functional sections of the department that resembles an accident and emergency unit.
Mukhopad narrates that the team was on the premises during the missile attack. He leads us to an alcove sheltered by curtains, a space once used by the staff for taking breaks. The striking memory of them engaging in a tea party just before the fatal hit lingers. Recounting the ghastly episode, he states that he had advised everyone to seek shelter in a corridor between two walls for optimal protection. They were semi-shielded from the ensuing shockwave and the falling rubble, avoiding severe injuries.
The obvious extent of the wreckage is intimidating. Currently, specialists are establishing the degree of possible structural impairment to the central Kyiv complex. It is expected that a pair of the hospital buildings will be pulled down. Regardless, the team is staunch in their vow to rebuild, refurbish and render Ohmatdyt completely functional as early as feasible.
Mukhopad, who has devoted 35 years to this workplace, affirms, “We will unquestionably repair all of this – we possess no other options”. In normal times, he adds, their trauma centre alone received 22,000 patient visits annually.
Ohmatdyt, an institution venerating maternal and child healthcare, treated upwards of 20,000 children as in-patients per year, performing over 10,000 surgeries. Commencing operations in 1894, the hospital has withstood the struggles during the Second World War and carried on expanding since Ukraine’s independence in 1991. Unfortunately, two of its new blocks inaugurated in 2017 and 2020 suffered damages in the recent offensive.
The Ukrainian hospital has traditionally been the premier centre for treating seriously ill children, including those with cancer. However, since Russia’s aggressive invasion in February 2022, it has also been the refuge for numerous children who suffered injuries such as limb loss, burns and other trauma inflicted by Russian missiles, drones and artillery. Godik comments on the increased workload brought about by the invasion, with the hospital being only 23 kilometres from the front line. The staff had to adapt, studying advanced trauma life support and establishing an emergency department based on these principles. He mentions that healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, surgeons, and intensive care personnel, scarcely left the hospital for approximately 70 days.
During a funding drive last week, initiated promptly by Ukrainians to assist with the repair of Ohmatdyt, committed individuals and groups pledged around €18 million. Volunteers arrived at the hospital to assist, even as the air raid warning was still active. Sharing his own experience, Fateh, a 21-year-old Kyiv student, describes arriving at the hospital 20 minutes after the strike to assist in the clean-up operation.
Similarly, Yuliya Dyomina, a Nashville, Tennessee resident, interrupted her summer vacation to volunteer at the hospital in her native country. Expressing her eagerness to contribute, she voiced her willingness to undertake any task required.
Viktoriia, a member of the hospital staff present during the missile strike, speaks of the substantial support received from volunteers and donators. Her sentiment is expressed with deep gratitude, remarking that volunteers seemed to outnumber the staff.
Despite the hardship experienced, the hospital staff remains determined to continue. Many have served at the hospital for decades, making it akin to a second home. The hospital staff ensures that repairs will be made, and services will resume, stating the importance of their role, “Who will do it if not us?”.
Natasha, a junior nurse and Lena, an attendant, sought shelter under the shadows while they were moving apparatus from the otolaryngology department, which had only shifted to a refurbished edifice this year.
Lena conveyed, “The department head was amidst an operation on a juvenile when the projectile hit. A handful of windows in the ward survived, but the bulk of the equipment and other aspects were wrecked or annihilated.”
“We commenced our duties in this building in February, everything was rectified and spanking new. We operated in a utopian environment for roughly four months, and presently everything has been devastated. It simply pulverises your spirit.”