Through the many horrors of ten months of war in Ukraine, a 15-year-old Ukrainian teenager was treated here at Shriners Hospital after major foot surgery which could have rendered him incapacitated.
Since last July, Yaroslav has been in a rehabilitation program at Shriners Hospital for Children in Montreal. The 15-year-old has come a long way.
When Russian missiles started raining down on Kharkiv city and hospital last February, Yaroslav was hospitalized, having just undergone foot surgery to enable him to walk better. He has cerebral palsy.
“There was a lot of noise around me,” said the young man. “I didn’t understand what was happening.”
The teenager couldn’t walk with his casts on, so the Good Samaritans and his mother took him to a shelter where he stayed for two weeks with some food and water.
Her father, who had stayed in Odessa, had managed to find her a wheelchair and bring it to her. The three then returned to Odessa aboard a humanitarian convoy.
“The bombing and the Russian planes were close enough to make the train vibrate a bit,” explains Yaroslav.
Back in Odessa, they collect some personal belongings and, after 29 hours of waiting, cross the border that takes them to Moldova, where they are greeted by Tatiana’s sister-in-law, who then welcomes them as soon as they arrive in Montreal. last April.
Tatiana, herself of Ukrainian origin, and her husband have so far welcomed around twenty Ukrainians.
“Yaroslav’s mother told me: ‘Tatiana, even when we were in Moldova, I didn’t sleep at night. Only here, in Quebec, was I able to fall asleep.'”
Two days after his arrival, Yaroslav was treated by Dr. Thierry Benaroch, chief physician at Shriners Hospital in Montreal.
“In Ukraine, they fixed her flat feet by cutting the bone inside, bringing the foot inward, and bracing the inside to maintain the arch of the foot,” says Dr. Benaroch.
Due to the war, the teenager kept in the cast for too long, but the doctor’s work will allow Yaroslav to walk normally.
“It really touched my heart and I’m very happy that the operation went well there,” said the doctor.
Yaroslav’s adaptation is almost complete. He now hopes to continue his life in Quebec with his parents and to learn French.
