Local business owner Cameron Stolz and his wife Terresa helped deliver much-needed medical supplies to a hospital in Ukraine this fall.
Cameron’s friend of 35 years, Dave Bryenton, who lives in Edmonton, has been taking donations and supplies over to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country this spring.
Bryenton’s mother and grandmother are Ukrainian and when the war broke out he immediately reached out to his family in Ukraine to ask what he could do to help and shortly after began gathering donations.
He made his first trip to Ukraine back in March and was able to take the supplies, mostly medical and tactical gear, through checked baggage on the airlines.
“The more people that go the more luggage we can take over,” explained Terresa. “We actually fly it over in giant hockey bags.”
Not only are the bags packed full but Bryenton also needs to be able to physically maneuver them around, so he asked Cameron and Terresa to accompany him on another trip in late September to help.
“Landing we make sure it clears customs okay, and from there, wrangle it, transport it, and deliver it to the hospital,” explained Cameron.
On Sept. 26, they flew to Edmonton to meet Bryenton, who had 21 bags of supplies to take over, valued at about $200,000 of mostly donated medical supplies including prescriptions, bandages, sutures, anaesthetics, and antibiotics.
Their final destination was a hospital in Lviv, Ukraine, which is a major city about an hour away from the Polish border.
The plan was to fly into Krakow, Poland and then drive across the border into Ukraine, however, when they arrived they discovered the airline had lost all 21 bags.
The group then had to wait for a day and a half until the luggage showed up before they could make the journey into Ukraine.
“We had one of Dave’s connections from Ukraine come out and meet us with a cargo van and we had a driver who knows the routine of getting over the border,” said Cameron.
He said crossing into Ukraine they immediately noticed the military presence everywhere. He noticed most of the buildings in the city that had ornate windows were boarded up and all of the windows on the ground floors were sandbagged.
There were also cages around all the monuments to protect them from shrapnel. The first thing that was pointed out to them when they checked into their hotel was the bomb shelter in the basement.
“The next morning, we delivered our medical supplies to the Lviv hospital,” said Cameron, adding the hospital has about a 1,000-bed capacity and was overflowing when they arrived.
After they made their official presentation of the bags, they were taken on a tour of the hospital, where officials explained to them what was most needed.
“We met right away half a dozen doctors that were from Britain that were over there volunteering for 30-day rotations. There were nurses there volunteering from France and the U.K.,” said Cameron.
They were even shown the bomb shelter that was set up with rows and rows of beds and secondary rooms that can be used for operations.
“The nurse that was with us from Alberta was shocked at how little stuff was there compared to an Alberta hospital and the amount of supplies you would have on hand. She was aghast at how little material they had for medical supplies,” said Cameron.
“We realized why they were so grateful for some hockey bags full of supplies,” added Terresa.
Cameron said what struck him was the support from all of the volunteers and other groups from around the world who are doing their part to lend a helping hand to Ukraine.
“The key thing that came from discussions with the advisor that Dave had connected us with who brought us across the border, he said the most important thing you are bringing is not the medical supplies, the most important thing you are bringing is the hope that we aren’t alone,” said Cameron.
He added that there’s a duality in Lviv right now, that despite the war, people are continuing to live their lives and the city is functioning normally.
Although Cameron and Terresa were only in the city for a total of 24 hours, they noticed signs of everyday life like people visiting cafes and playing chess in the park.
“Their spirits are very high, and they are very hopeful, and they are continuing to live their lives as normally as possible,” said Terresa.
“Even though everyone we did speak to, from waiters at restaurants to doctors, has been affected. Almost everyone has a friend or a family member that has died or is away on the front lines.”
Cameron said now that they’ve done this once as a support person for Bryenton, the goal is to do the same thing from Prince George.
They plan to reach out to the community to gather donations and return to Lviv sometime in early January.
“Really what we are hoping for is doctors and medical practices to be able to donate things that we can take over,” added Cameron.
They are also looking for donations for the military which could include boots, winter gear, rain gear and more medical supplies like anti-radiation medicine, bandages, antiseptics, and antibiotics.
“Dave has done it eight times now, so he has all of the hoops figured out, so we know what we are jumping through,” noted Cameron.
“The biggest thing we can do is to take as much medical supplies as we can.”
