Canadian medical team returning to Ukraine to undertake 2nd mission on victims of Euromaidan and Putin’s invasion

Canadian surgeons on their first mission in Ukraine 

A second team of Canadian medical professionals will travel to Ukraine to perform reconstructive surgical procedures on victims of violence against the Euromaidan movement and Vladimir Putin’s invasion into Eastern Ukraine, informs UaPost.

The mission will run May 8-17, 2015. This is following the first successful mission in November 2014, which saw 37 reconstructive surgeries. A short documentary about it is available here.

The mission is organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation under the patronage of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress. The medical team of more than 20 professionals is comprised entirely of volunteers and includes surgeons, anesthetists, and nurses. The team is assembled from across Canada and will treat facial and upper extremity trauma, post-traumatic craniofacial deformities, soft tissue defects, and scars. The team is headed by Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn, Head of the Adult Craniofacial Program at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Professor of Plastic Surgery, University of Toronto.

Funding for both missions comes largely from “United for Ukraine,” a fundraiser organized by the Canada Ukraine Foundation in September 2014, attended by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Wayne Gretzky. The Toronto fundraiser was attended by almost 1200 people and raised upwards of $200,000.

“I am grateful to the Canada Ukraine Foundation and to the thousands of Canadians who donated to our mission,” said Dr. Antonyshyn.

The Canada Ukraine Foundation is thankful for the support of Stryker Canada, which once again awarded the medical mission with a grant which provides for virtually all surgical hardware and implant materials for the medical procedures.

The Canada Ukraine Foundation is grateful to the sponsors of United for Ukraine, who made this, and the first mission possible. They include: Eugene Melnyk, Canadian Tire, Molson Coors Canada, the Temerty Family, the Ihnatowycz Family, Bell Canada, the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Jacyk Foundation, the Ukrainian Credit Union, Buduchnist Credit Union, Caravan Logistics, Yarcia Huculak and Family, CIBC, Manulife, and Community Trust Credit Union.

The Canada Ukraine Foundation was established by the Ukrainian Canadian Congress to coordinate, develop, organize and deliver assistance projects generated by Canadians and directed to Ukraine. It is a registered charitable foundation. Donations for the mission and other projects may be made at http://www.cufoundation.ca.