On his first shift at the clinic, Dr. Or managed to make a huge impact on one family’s journey.
Physicians from Hadassah Medical Center at the Przemysl refugee camp on the Ukraine-Poland border performed surgery on a young Ukrainian girl earlier this week.
10-year-old Alexandra came to the clinic suffering from severe pain in her foot due to an ingrown toenail left untreated for two months. She was unable to walk, and had been in extreme constant pain for weeks.
Dr. Omer Or, an onco-orthopedic surgeon at Przemsyl, explained that “The mother told us that Alexandra was examined several times while the family was on the run. Everyone understood how much she was suffering, but no one wanted to take responsibility and operate on the girl under the complex conditions of the refugee camps.”
The pain stops at the border
Dr. Or, who had just arrived at the camp and was on his first shift at the clinic, saw that Alexandra’s pain must stop with him.
“Your kindness will continue to accompany us on the path that awaits us going forward; you are an inspiration.”
Alexandra’s family’s message to Dr. Or
“I collected the appropriate equipment that we have in the camp clinic, thanks to the donations that Hadassah raised from all over the world,” the doctor said. “I prepared a sterile field and, no less important, I explained to the girl and her parents what I was going to do.”
The medical team performed the procedure under local anesthesia, and the leg was treated and bandaged. The staff gave detailed instructions to Alexandra’s parents for post-surgical care; they were clearly relieved, happy to exchange recovery work for their daughter’s pain and tears.
The most rewarding part
Dr. Or explained that the best part for him was “as soon as I finished the surgery. She and her mother did not stop thanking me for the treatment that finally, after months, stopped the severe pain in the leg.”
Alexandra and her family expressed deep gratitude to Dr. Or and the staff of the Hadassah clinic.
“We will remember you forever – for the rest of our lives,” said Alezandra’s family. “You reached out when we needed it most, at the difficult moment when our daughter could not cope with the terrible pain. We did not see any light at the end of the tunnel.
“Thank you very much, Dr. Omer. Your kindness will continue to accompany us on the path that awaits us going forward; you are an inspiration.”