Ukrainian doctor visits Rifle's Grand River Health, seeking medical supplies and medicine for front line - Glenwood Springs Post Independent

Two Grand River Health doctors and their families went to Ukraine little than 2 months aft Russia invaded. They brought with them aesculapian supplies, $4,000 worthy of pharmaceuticals and loads of captious knowledge.

Doctors Michael Duehrssen and Heath Cotter taught young Ukrainian combatants however to tract formal wounds. They treated sick refugees. One of their daughters played harp for war-stressed orphans.

During this humanitarian mission, the 2 Rifle doctors worked side-by-side with 2 Ukrainian doctors: hubby and woman Serhii and Yuliia Serdeniuk. 

Shortly aft 6 p.m. Eastern European Time connected Thursday, Dr. Serhii battled intermittent blackouts arsenic helium spoke with the Post Independent implicit WhatsApp, a free, planetary connection service.

A distorted man’s dependable muffled implicit an intercom astatine Angelia Clinic, a backstage signifier situated amongst a fleet of tall, artifact apartments astir 2 miles eastbound of the Dnipro River successful Kyiv, portion Dr. Serhii rationalized wherefore he’s going to temporarily permission Ukraine for, of each places, Rifle, Colorado.

“I privation to conscionable arsenic (many) radical arsenic imaginable to inquire you to enactment our service,” helium said, calmly, successful his champion English. “Just yesterday our aesculapian instrumentality for dentistry broke and we request $10,000 to regenerate that.”

Grand River Health Community Relations Director Annick Pruett said Dr. Serhii, who worked truthful intimately with Cotter and Duehrssen, is slated to look astatine Grand River Health’s Colorado River Room from 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday. Grand River Health is located astatine 501 Airport Road.

“He volition beryllium giving an update connected the concern determination arsenic good arsenic an update connected the caller session they person built,” she said.

Serhii is manager of a mobile session unit. These rolling aesculapian bastions sojourn and service the war’s beforehand lines, close present predominantly connected the eastbound edges of the country. He has truthful acold conducted astir 60-65 clinics, each 1 serving astir 30 radical daily.

Supplies are ever dwindling, helium said. Because Russia has changed its tactics from a failed blitzkrieg attack to a brutal warfare of attrition, hospitals, schools — adjacent places wherever they marque pharmaceuticals — proceed to beryllium targeted by long-range missiles.

“Because of war, Russians bombed 2 of the biggest factories who produced medicine for Ukraine,” Dr. Serhii said. “Right now, adjacent if we person money, we can’t bargain it successful Ukraine, due to the fact that it’s not being produced for Ukraine.”

Dr. Serhii grew much animated arsenic helium continued to database disconnected further aesculapian needs. This includes thing and everything, from $20,000 for a caller ultrasound instrumentality and a newer battery, to intelligence medications due to the fact that anxiousness amongst Ukrainians is present widespread. As blackouts continue, Dr. Serhii works with a flashlight, sometimes adjacent conscionable candlelight. 

Just this week, Dr. Serhii would instrumentality a car thrust crossed Ukraine to Warsaw, Poland. From there, a formation to Munich, Germany. Then a formation from Munich to Frankfurt, Germany. From Frankfurt, Denver International Airport. From DIA, the ascent on Interstate 70 to Rifle.

Dr. Serhii past became apprehensive. He doesn’t privation to permission for Colorado, helium said. He would alternatively enactment and assistance arsenic galore radical arsenic helium can. At this infinitesimal helium besides remembered the assistance helium received from overseas doctors, including Cotter and Duehrssen.

“These truly brave guys, they brought large boxes afloat of aesculapian supplies,” helium said.

Doctors Cotter and Duehrssen erstwhile joined Dr. Serhii connected a sojourn to a Ukrainian colony adjacent the Romanian border. A contingent of refugees had precocious arrived from the war-torn metropolis of Mariupol, 1 of the astir heavily devastated cities of the full warfare truthful far. 

Dr. Serhii said 1 of the refugees, a 13-year-old boy, had been bleeding heavy from his chemoreceptor for fractional an hr straight. With Dr. Cotter’s assistance, the bleeding stopped successful 3 minutes, and the lad of astir 110 pounds survived.

“Dr. Heath personally stopped the bleeding,” Dr. Serhii said. “That was a occurrence that he’d been determination conscionable successful that moment, erstwhile helium was needed mostly.

“When we stopped the bleeding, (the boy) started to vomit blood. We collected fractional a liter of humor helium swallowed before.”

The past 11 months person evidently been thing but mean for Dr. Serhii, whose archetypal sensation of warfare came erstwhile helium was called up arsenic a subject doc successful 2015. When Russia invaded Ukraine connected Feb. 24, 2022, Dr. Serhii moved his household from Kyiv to Germany, and they person since travel back.

He has food, a extortion implicit his caput and warmth, helium said. Everything successful Kyiv is “not truthful bad,” helium joked facetiously. But he’s besides mislaid much, including friends.

“I lost,” helium said poignantly. He past sighed. “My friend, helium was a colonel successful the Ukrainian Army… Yeah, I mislaid a batch of people.”

Dec. 21, 2022 marked a humanities time successful United States’ history. It was the archetypal time, since British Prime Minister Winston Churchill did it successful 1941, that a overseas nationalist person came to Washington to code Congress. In his speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, contempt continued enactment from the U.S., determination inactive needs to beryllium more.

“Your enactment is crucial, not conscionable to basal successful specified a fight, but to get to the turning constituent to triumph connected the battlefield,” helium told Congress. “We person artillery, yes. We person it. Is it enough? Quite honestly, not really.”

On a overmuch scaled down version, Dr. Serhii’s sojourn to Rifle is chock afloat of the aforesaid intentions.

“I person conscionable 1 week to conscionable arsenic galore radical arsenic possible,” helium reiterated. “Because I’ll beryllium backmost Tuesday to Ukraine, and Wednesday we’ll spell to Mykolaiv. It’s a metropolis connected the enactment of the Black Sea, and they weaponry it each day. We committedness the radical we volition beryllium determination and service them for 3 days.”

“I can’t miss this trip.”