Man drives seven ambulances over to help war effort

A UKRAINIAN man who lives in Adamstown spoke to The Echo about delivering seven ambulances to the Poland-Ukraine border over the last 10 months.

Pavlo Iarovyi, 36, who has lived in Ireland for the last ten years, said he was keen to do something to help his home country when the war broke out in Ukraine last February.

He started assisting a group of Ukrainian medical professionals living in Ireland who set up a group called Medical Help Ukraine to distribute donated medical equipment to the besieged country.

Among the medical professionals involved in Medical Help Ukraine is Dr Kateryna Kachurets, who works as a GP in the Glenview Clinic in Tallaght, and who is originally from Ukraine’s capital city, Kyiv.

Dr Kateryna Kachurets

Part of the work of Medical Help Ukraine includes procuring ambulances, with registrations from 2011 to 2016, at auctions in Ireland and the UK and then transporting them to Ukraine.

The ambulance purchases are funded by donations to Medical Help Ukraine – 35 ambulances have been brought to Ukraine so far as a result, seven of which Pavlo helped to transport.

He transported ambulances to the region in March, the late summer and early autumn to help both civilians and soldiers in Ukraine.

“I’d get the ferry from Ireland to the UK and drive them to the Polish border . . . it took about 24 hours,” said Pavlo.

“I decided to do it because I’m Ukrainian, and I care about Ukraine. The ambulances save the lives of civilians, and the soldiers who are protecting our country.”

Pavlo has also opened up his Adamstown home to five Ukrainians who have fled the war, including his mother and sister, while his grandmother and father have decided to remain in Ukraine.

When asked how he feels about the global response to the war in Ukraine, Pavlo said: “I feel impressed.

“I really didn’t expect that the world, and Ireland, would help Ukraine to such an extent.”