A team of volunteer medical professionals from across Canada are currently in Poland for the sixth mission of the Canada Ukraine Surgical Aid Program (CUSAP) since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of 2022. The team of medical professionals assessed 15 patients to determine the best course of treatment for their extensive lower and upper extremities injuries.
From November 2 to November 6, 11 patients were operated on – three of them had multi-stage surgeries spanning five days with preparatory free-flap procedures performed a few weeks earlier in Ukraine by Canadian surgeons from the Sunnybrook Ukraine Surgical Educational Initiative.
The CUSAP team is getting patients back on their feet and restoring function to arms and hands through complex, reconstructive, muti-stage surgical procedures, such as removal of external fixators, bone grafts, nerve exploration and transposition, tendons transfer, and shrapnel removal. Our volunteers aim to improve patients’ quality of life by giving them the ability to once again walk and use their hands – something we take for granted in our daily lives.
Over the last five days, four Ukrainian surgeons scrubbed in to assist Canadian colleagues and gain experience from some of the most skilled surgical practitioners in North America. By demonstrating new perspectives and approaches in orthopedic surgery, the impact of CUSAP, a project of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation and Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, goes far beyond patients treated in Poland. Through education, the program will assist civilians and soldiers injured in Ukraine.
These patients have all suffered unimaginably from Russia’s unprovoked, genocidal war on Ukraine. Our goal is to do everything possible to restore their quality of life as they begin the process of recovery and healing. We are incredibly thankful to our donors for enabling us to provide the highest quality of care to Ukrainians injured in the war. Your contribution allows us to change lives one patient case at a time. We invite you to continue leaving your mark of hope by donating to support CUSAP.