Oksana Okhniuk-Dmytruk, 40, fled war-torn Western Ukraine with her son, 12, and her widowed mother, 65. Leaving their lives behind and carrying only small backpacks and warm blankets for the nights, the family walked for five days to reach the Polish border – and safety. Now based in Warsaw, cardiologist Oksana is being supported by LUX MED to begin to work as a doctor again in Poland.
“LUX MED has given us hope for the future and supported us during the most difficult times of our lives. I am sincerely grateful for all the support and to be able to continue in medicine. Here, working in hospital, I am back in my element, doing what I do best and what I trained for. I am grateful to feel needed again and for the way our Polish colleagues have welcomed us. I’m having intensive Polish lessons, but it’s interesting how sometimes doctors don’t need words – just a shared look and an innate understanding.
When I think back to our walk to Poland five days after war broke out, it’s like a fog. It was so terrifying and stressful. None of us could believe that this conflict could not be settled peacefully; peace talks in the 21st century are expected to come to a calm, civilised solution, not the overwhelming fear that a bomb could hit your child that night. I was not afraid to die, but I worried constantly for my son and my mum. I was praying, if we should die, let us all die together.
Crossing the border
When we reached the border, I was prepared for 12 hours or more of standing in the freezing March cold, as we’d heard so many stories. But everything happened fast, and we crossed the border in three hours. We were welcomed so warmly on the Polish side. Volunteers smiled and hugged us. It was heart-warming, just to be given a hot tea that we desperately needed and see the compassion in people’s eyes. It wasn’t humiliating being a refugee because this care was coming from their hearts.
We thought we would be in Poland for two weeks; the war would end and we’d return to our normal lives. The greatest challenge for us has been realising we need to make new lives for ourselves and that means learning the language. My son and mum wanted to go home all the time and didn’t understand why their lives had to change so dramatically, but I had to concentrate on getting work – and for me that means as a doctor.
“We thought we would be in Poland for two weeks; the war would end and we’d return to our normal lives.”
We came on the bus to Warsaw with volunteers, with no clear plan nor destination, and there we met a wonderful volunteer, Agnieszka, who gave me a ticket to a new life. Most of all Agnieszka helped me realise that we are not a burden; that people are sincere and worry on our behalf. With her help, we found accommodation and I enrolled in Polish classes, wrote my CV and started collecting all the documents I needed to continue working as a doctor in our new country. For two months, before I was accepted on the LUX MED programme for Ukrainian doctors, I earned money to survive as a massage therapist.
Getting back to work as a doctor
Now LUX MED is managing all the legal and administrative issues with the Polish Ministry of Health so I can work as a doctor in the very near future. It’s such a huge relief when you have someone giving clear answers and helping sort all the complicated documentation. LUX MED has given us five hours of Polish language lessons every day and we’re now learning specific medical terms. Already I have some work hours at LUX MED branches, where I can improve my Polish and work as a doctor’s assistant. I have a purpose in my life once again.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, our business in Poland, LUX MED, has been supporting refugees who have been forced to flee the war. We made our position clear about not doing business with Russia as a result of the military action, and we are making a meaningful, long-term contribution to help Ukrainian refugees in Poland. To date, we have provided 240,000 free treatments to over 130,000 Ukrainian people and have employed 193 healthcare workers from Ukraine. We will continue to fund this support for as long as needed.
