Transport was facilitated by Magen David Adom and New York–based Hatzolah Air.
When an apartment building in Kyiv was hit by a missile on Saturday, February 26, Irina Karaush, 44, and her 19-year-old son, Mark, were injured. They received initial treatment from a local hospital but suffered complex injuries to their limbs.
Nachman Dickstein, a volunteer with Magen David Adom (MDA) living in Kyiv, learned about their complicated injuries, and contacted his colleagues back in Israel to help bring them there for continued medical care.
Magen David Adom, Israel’s national paramedic and Red Cross service, contacted Hatzolah Air, a New York–based volunteer rescue organization that flies people in need to specific medical treatment. Hatzolah Air’s representative in Israel, MDA paramedic Aharon Adler, arranged for a private plane that departed from New York to the Romanian-Moldova border and from there to Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel.
The jet was loaded with seven tons of medical supplies, food, and other humanitarian goods for Ukrainian refugees on the Moldova-Ukraine border.
The plane arrived in Israel Monday morning, carrying the whole family, including Irina’s husband, Max, 44, and other
son, Georgi, 10. Two awaiting MDA Mobile Intensive Care Units evacuated Irina and Mark to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital.
Mark Karaush explains how he and his mother suffered complex injuries to their limbs when a missile hit their home. They were transported to Israel for medical treatment, facilitated by Magen David Adom and New York-based Hatzolah Air.
“As a Red Cross affiliate, we’re working to help refugees and the wounded as much as possible in various ways, and this is how we will continue to act,” said Bin.
One of those ways includes a special hotline centre to assist Ukrainian refugees who arrive in Israel. Nearly 3,000 have already arrived — most of them not Jewish.
The hotline will be staffed by Russian- and Ukrainian-speaking volunteers in MDA’s National Command Centre in Kiryat Ono and will be operated jointly with the International Red Cross. Volunteers will provide assistance regarding medical needs, and navigation and coordination among the various service and governmental agencies.“As soon as we were informed of the medical condition of the Karaush family, who were hit by a direct missile in their home, we contacted Eli Rowe, president and founder of the Hatzolah Air, a longtime partner,” said Eli Bin, MDA’s director-general.