Natalia Pluzhnyk

War is a monstrous act. It brings murder and destruction. A victim of war is helpless. Their world becomes black and white, their options are to run or to hide, and their every moment is between life or death. Their only goal is to survive.

My name is Natalia Pluzhnyk. And I was this person in a black and white world. I lived in Luhansk, Eastern Ukraine when the war came there in 2014. Since then, I have worked for charitable organizations and volunteered for several years to help civilians who were victims of the war.

In 2022, the war in Ukraine became full-scale, and the whole world has witnessed terrible crimes against humanity. I launched Ukrainian Relief Fund of South Florida, INC to help people across war-torn Ukraine who are seeking peace and safety.

War has no place in the modern world. Mankind should create, invent and develop. It is my dream to help my people survive, prevail and follow the path of creation and development.

In 2011, I experienced a personal tragedy – the loss of a loved one. Then I was able to find solace by helping those who really needed help and support – the hospice palliative patients.

I became a volunteer in the hospice at the oncology dispensary in Luhansk. I worked there as a volunteer until 2017, before I moved to the USA. In 2018, my sister Elena died in that same hospice. She was 42 years old. In memory of my sister Elena Solodka, the activities of our organization are dedicated to her. Initially, the goal of this nonprofit organization was to promote and support the palliative care system and hospice medicine in Ukraine.

However, the current situation in Ukraine is critical and it requires immediate assistance to the civilian population. After the war, we plan to switch our efforts to palliative care in Ukraine. So far, we are only evacuating palliative patients from shelled cities to safe places.

The problem of providing medical help and other assistance to the terminally ill in Ukraine is severe. According to the International Alliance for Palliative Care, Ukraine in 2012 belonged to countries with “non-systemic provision of palliative care”. Now the situation has deteriorated catastrophically due to hostilities in the country. The few inpatient hospices and palliative care units at hospitals that already existed are now largely destroyed.

Among the terminally ill who need care and assistance at the end of life are cancer patients and the elderly, AIDS patients, patients with diabetes, and tuberculosis. Patients and their families are in dire need of palliative care, which aims to relieve physical pain and provide psychological and spiritual support. However, Ukrainian medical care is unable to provide this support now, primarily because of the war in the country.

But I believe that very soon we will be able to work on this problem together. We can change this.

Every person has the right to a decent life throughout the whole journey, and not just when they are young and healthy. We cannot save a palliative patient, but we can help them and their family live their last days with dignity.