Bradley Wood spent a month in the warzone

A UKRAINE hospital has sent heartfelt thanks to the Whittington after it rushed out crucial medical supplies – passing a letter to a King’s Cross photo­journalist to bring home.

Bradley Wood is back after one month in the war-ravaged country including the heavily bombed Kharkiv region and within a few miles of the Russian border.

He told the New Journal he had seen downed helicopters, ruined buildings and bodies during his journey that was “frequently interrupted by military checkpoints and bomb debris strewn across the roads”.

At the Zolochiv Central Hospital in Kharkiv, he was handed the message for the Whittington which included an invitation for staff to “visit after our victory”.

A patient needing help in Kharkiv [Bradley Wood]

Mr Wood had interviewed neurologist Dr Ilona Butova who told him how the hospital had been “overwhelmed by an endless stream of casualties” but had refused to leave her workplace despite the danger.

The Putin-ordered invasion began in February but Russian military forces have faced stiff resistance from the Ukrainians – as well as international condemnation.

In his report Mr Wood said Dr Butova had told how they “had to quickly adapt to a state of emergency amid what was unfolding” and “the difficulty was in deciding which order the patients would be treated first, based on their urgency”.

She told him: “When the Russians fired a rocket in this direction from the Black Sea all the windows shattered and the doors came flying off.

“We took the patients that could be moved down into the basement and continued to treat them there until the threat had passed. We were all praying that the intensity of the attack would not increase because the patients upstairs would simply die.”

Dr Illona Butova [Bradley Wood]

She recalled treating patients who lost their lives that she knew personally and how there was a time when it was virtually impossible for volunteers to deliver humanitarian aid to the hospital.

Mr Wood said: “Dr Butova expresses her gratitude for the help received from the UK – especially the Whittington Hospital.”

He said she had not known if it was possible to arrange, but she had made a short video about the hospital’s needs and within a short space of time medical aid began to arrive from north London.

“Making any sense of their experience may remain out of reach, but the overarching impression is one of strength and resilience that transcends the verbal realm,” he said. “A phenomenon that testifies the human spirit.”

Mr Wood said he had been touched by the support felt for the British who are held in high regard he said because of the weapons and funds that have been sent out to help the Ukrainians.

He added: “The affiliation and the love I felt for the UK was beyond what I was expecting. It certainly helped an old cowboy like me get around.”

The message for the Whittington Hospital

But he said he was still decompressing his one month having seen traumatic scenes of dead soldiers and landmine victims.
Eugene Kimovsky, the Ukranian hospital’s chief executive, wrote the letter of thanks for the Whittington.

“There are no words and emotions in the whole world that could convey the grief that we are now experiencing,” the text said.
“We appreciate that at this difficult time for us you are concerned about the problems of our doctors. You are doing a great and very noble deed.”