Six inhabitants of the repression in Belarus have been rehabilitated in Vaivari. In the aftermath of the presidential election in Belarus, these people suffered both psychological and blows and explosions, which will have lasting consequences for their health. Andas Nullis, the head of the National Rehabilitation Center “Vaivari”, talks about the Belarusians who have been treated on the streets of Minsk and are being treated in Latvia.
Latvian Radio: Tell us what is this group of Belarusians who have undergone rehabilitation in Latvia.
Interview with Anda Null, the head of the National Rehabilitation Center “Vaivari”Cynthia Ambote00:00 / 00:00
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You are Nulle: For us, they are all patients in the rehabilitation center, whether they are soldiers or political prisoners, or, as in this case, victims of violence in Belarus. The patients we received here were indeed victims of physical and emotional abuse, and we had to find a way to best help them. This group was very different from the two previous groups from Ukraine – Ukrainian soldiers and political prisoners, because there people went to fight for another goal and more or less knew about the risks. But these Belarusians … one of them was simply on the street at the wrong time and place, and the forces of power seize him and start whipping.
As a human being, I am struck by the fact that there is no war in Belarus at the moment, there is no war there, but we are receiving such severely injured patients.
Then that’s what you say – The Belarusians who were being treated here are not just politically persecuted people in the past, but more ordinary people who have been captured by passing these demonstration sites. Is it different, though?
Of course, there were also journalists or simply a resident of Minsk protesting against the existing facility, but he does not do it violently, he does it in very peaceful demonstrations. In fact, you are a normal resident of your country, and the country is attacking you. We received them with physical injuries, with these bruises, with hematomas, but in our case they came here already treated in Latvian hospitals. And what’s different, these people were absolutely not prepared for any lasting health consequences from these injuries.
The perception of these patients was that they had suffered and would now be cured and able to live a normal life. Unfortunately, some patients will have lasting consequences for the rest of their lives.
Are the age groups also different?
Yes, but mostly Belarusians around 30 and 40 years old. New and active.
Women too?
Only men came to us. Due to the limitations of Covid-19, all of these patients were after self-isolation and treatment in acute hospitals. What we concluded about this group of Belarusians was that they were treated very professionally in Daugavpils and Gaiļezers, but it was such a short episode and these people were actually very confused. They had just been to the hospital, where they had undergone a very high level of surgical manipulation, and then in their normal lives after discharge from the hospital they would turn to their family doctors and understand what to do next. Then here, to some extent, we also performed both the rehabilitation function and the family medicine function, because
we received them with extreme anxiety and confusion about what would happen next.
We put together a plan for the prevention of health problems and a plan for coping with various injuries, where to turn, what therapy to continue. And, of course, rehabilitation does not happen 24 hours a day, there are some moments for patients when they have nothing to start. And here a huge help was provided by a non-governmental organization in support of Belarus. We felt that they were cared for here and not only by us medically, but also by our fellow human beings.
What did you conclude about the types of repression against these patients, perhaps the specialists noticed some methodological violence. Or are they very different ways in which they were influenced by the Belarusian authorities?
In fact, it was a one-off violence that had different consequences for everyone. We did not have the Belarusians who had been imprisoned for a long time. There were one-off but very targeted acts of violence against our patients.
These were not accidental hits. No! It was hit there and then continued.
When I studied to be a doctor, it was commonly called criminal injuries. Of course, in Latvia, too, we sometimes encounter patients who have suffered an attack. However, this led to the suspicion that we live in a completely different world and mostly maybe we see something similar in the movies, because there was also a patient who suffered an explosion and there are rubble in the wounds.
It’s like a classic military field injury, but here it was in the middle of the city.
Yes! And, of course, there were many psychological changes for these victims. But they came out of them very successfully through active activities. All physiotherapy classes, consultations, as well as were patients who used our new robot technology.
Can you discuss any of these examples?
We used robotic technology to normalize gait disturbances that had occurred in one of the patients after traumatic nerve injury to the leg. So we tried to restore what is possible, and what could not be restored was offset by orthosis.
Did you also discuss the topic of fear with these patients? It is known that Belarusian journalists or activists are more likely to speak to the media, but most of these victims want to remain anonymous for obvious reasons, as they have to return to their country.
On the one hand, when they arrived, they were more willing to speak, and we doctors actually even guarded them from rushing to speak, because perhaps at the first moment they did not realize what they were after returning home, could jeopardize the provision of such ill-considered information. Our task was to protect them from any media attention, which could then lead to an avalanche that we will not know – maybe they will be repressed themselves, maybe their families may suffer. It was important for us to keep them healthy and not risk their lives in the future.
What do you think this means from the patient’s point of view, namely, if you have just rehabilitated from an injury and then returned to the same unsafe environment?
More perhaps, they had high hopes that something would change. Well, they also want to live normally. It is difficult and difficult for them to return to the situation they are in in Belarus today, but on the other hand, it is their homeland, and they are ready to return to it. However, visiting us, in my opinion, in such a wonderful country and with good people, it made them want to have the same in Belarus. We tried to help them in every way, but what will happen next is hard to say.
At present, there are no more Belarusian patients in Vaivari. Are there any plans to take in more of these victims?
Many countries are ready to help Belarus, and we still need to understand what is the best thing we can give them so that the money allocated can be used most effectively. This is the level of government and ministries, but we are ready to receive and will be happy to help them with rehabilitation. Both Ukrainians and now Belarusians also taught our specialists a lot. Firstly, other health injuries, but they also taught us to be more flexible and open, because we need to be able to make these contacts with people in different situations, keeping our main goal of preventing the consequences of injuries, but actually learning these human things.
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