Scotland helps to set up a rehabilitation centre in Ukraine

On 11th April, Sunflower Scotland delivered 8 exercise machines and 5 wheelchairs to a new rehabilitation centre “Patriot” in Pershotravensk, a small mining town 40 miles from the front line. After two years of war, many Ukrainian women and men paid a horrific price with their health: they sustained severe injuries and wounds from bomb explosions, shrapnel, bullets and fire. Some even lost their limbs, and now have prosthetic arms and legs. Now, they desperately need rehabilitation: to re-learn how to walk, to come back to life. But most of all, they need psychological support, to know they are not alone.

One day in March, Yuriy Dibrov, an elected representative in Pershotravensk, texted our chairman Oleg Dmitriev. Yuriy explained that they had about 1,000 people recovering from wounds from the war. Being a small town of only 30,000 people, they were overwhelmed and needed help. The Sunflower team decided to answer this call. We didn’t have much time, and decided to go to Ukraine in just three weeks.

Yuri explained what they needed for rehabilitation: exercise bikes, rowing machines, cross-trainers. Basically, machines that would help patients to move, to gradually start use their arms and legs after a severe wound or amputation.

We contacted many people across Scotland asking to donate gym machines. We received a wonderful response. This was so moving to see this kind of generosity and kindness. In no time at all, we had our van filled with gym machines, and we were ready to go.

Elvira Dmitrieva, Sunflower Scotland’s trustee, drove the van with rehabilitation machines all the way from Scotland to Kryvyi Rih. From there, our Chairman personally delivered the donation to the new rehabilitation centre in Pershotravensk. He met with Yuriy Dibrov and Vitalii Oboronko, a professional medal-winning sportsman who volunteered to head the rehabilitation programme.

Yuriy and Vitalii explained that their new centre was a subsidiary of “Path to Health”, a rehabilitation centre from Dnipro. That centre had been working since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, and already helped over 600 amputees to recover. The team from Path to Health will train Vitalii, and will be providing on-going support and oversight.

The machines donated by Scotland – and delivered by Sunflower – helped Pershotravensk volunteers to get the rehabilitation centre up and running. Yuriy and Vitalii wrote letters thanking Sunflower for the donation. We are proud to display it here, as well as on our page along with all other letters of gratitude which Sunflower Scotland received from Ukraine. Here’s what Yuriy wrote:

This centre will bring immense relief and hope to numerous individuals in need of support during their recovery. It will not only serve as a place of rehabilitation, but also as a community hub where people can seek support, guidance and hope.

Last but not least, we would like to thank Shira Sprava (“Good Deed” in Ukrainian), our partner charity from Kryvyi Rih, south Ukraine. They helped us to import the equipment and helped us to bring our donations to Pershotravensk. We could not have done it without them.