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WAR IS NOT A SENTENCE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Updated: Apr 2, 2023



Even in times of war, a person with the 1 degree disability will not be left without hope when the PAL-UA team gets involved.


The morning of November 29 began for Halyna Viktorivna with a very special event. The girl has lived in her native country for 27 years. Not so long ago, she never imagined that February 2022 would change her life forever. The terrible word "war" entered her life, and the lives of millions of compatriots. From then on, the world changed. From then on, the real world was a daily struggle for survival. It was necessary to survive "against all odds," but for a person confined to a wheelchair, this is not an easy task.


The PAL-UA team's special evacuation flight set off for its destination. The task did not seem too difficult - to evacuate the man and deliver him to the railway station at the appointed time. There was only one problem - the man who could not move on his own lived on the 14th floor. In the frontline city, elevators practically do not work, and narrow stairs are not very convenient for moving goods.


The driver drove the horse quickly through the streets of Kherson, hurrying to the apartment located in the Shumensky district. Outside the car window they could see the building of the Holy Trinity Church. It was not far away. The main thing was to act quickly, because another patient had to be taken to the same evacuation train. When the rescuers arrived at the address, they heard shooting, and the sound of machine gun fire no longer frightened them as it did in early spring.


They had to go up to the 14th floor on foot, the elevator was out of order. They knocked on the door and entered the apartment. Visibly worried, Halyna did not even smile, looking at us suspiciously. Quickly composing ourselves, we started carrying the girl downstairs. Strong muscles and steel endurance did not let the rescuers down this time. Going down the narrow stairs, the guys talked to Halyna, trying to calm her down and cheer her up. They acted according to a well-established algorithm.


The girl was being loaded into the ambulance amidst the sound of gunfire, explosions, and artillery fire. We had to go very quickly, the train departs at 12.00, and another person was waiting for help.


We got into the car, and the ambulance driver pressed the gas pedal. The car rushed towards the Central Station, Shumensky Park, and the Regional Scientific Lyceum - the roads of the frontline city are very dangerous during shelling. The girl with frightened eyes left her home not of her own free will. This is the new reality in which the war has turned the lives of millions of Ukrainians upside down.


The ambulance moved through the streets of the city, maneuvering gently and rapidly gaining speed. With each passing minute, Halyna calmed down more and more, her eyes filled with the warmth of gratitude and confidence that everything would be fine now. And even though she had to leave her home in her favorite city, where she had lived for 27 years, she will now be alive. And she will come back home, she will come back for sure. As soon as our guys finally defeat the enemy and liberate the country.


The central railway station, an evacuation train, a girl in a wheelchair being taken to the passenger compartment. Halyna looks at the guys, guys she didn't know an hour ago, had never seen in her life. These people did everything to give her, Halyna, the opportunity that thousands of her countrymen do not have - the opportunity to live in peace, not to shudder from explosions and shooting, not to wake up at night to the howl of air raid alarms. The girl looked at her rescuers and smiled sincerely, her eyes shone with gratitude and a deep sense of human happiness - she was happy again.


The crew of rescuers was going on another trip. The tasks were the same. To evacuate, to save, to give people hope that everything will be fine. This is what the guys and girls of PAL-UA work for every day and without rest. They have given thousands of Ukrainians hope for salvation, working to exhaustion, sparing neither themselves nor their equipment. They wake up, work, rest and work again. The equipment works with them. The equipment works thanks to the team and unscheduled repairs. Donations for the restoration and purchase of new equipment help in the work.


It is thanks to the evacuation crews that more than 2,000 wounded and sick people have been rescued, and more than 60,000 civilians have been evacuated to safe areas. Working under extremely high loads, the equipment quickly breaks down and requires more and more time to recover. A delay in the work of the crew for technical reasons can cost someone's health and even life.


Today, the PAL-UA team needs to purchase a new vehicle for evacuations. Your donation for the purchase of a vehicle will restore hope to someone and save someone's life.


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