Son, desperately clinging to life amidst his own coronavirus battle, administered final breaths of oxygen to his father before succumbing to the disease.
A Gripping Tale from COVID-19-Stricken Kyiv
Amidst the ongoing struggle with the COVID-19 pandemic, a heart-wrenching story from Kyiv, Ukraine, has surfaced. Volunteer Dana Yarovaia broke the news on Facebook through lenta.ru, sharing a father's selfless act that unfortunatey cost him his life.
Under the crushing weight of oxygen shortage, hospitals in the city are grappling with a scarcity of oxygen concentrators essential for treating patients with severe COVID-19. This shortage has forced medical institutions to ration oxygen, allotting each patient a mere 15 minutes a day.
In this bleak scenario, a father decided to forfeit his daily oxygen allowance to his son. Tragically, he succumbed to the virus, leaving his son battling for survival. Yarovaia wrote, "The father gave up his daily 15 minutes to his son. The father passed away, the son continues to be treated. I don't know if the son still gets the additional 15 minutes of oxygen for his deceased father."
Eerily reminiscent of such situations, accounts from Italy in the earlier stages of the pandemic depicted COVID-19 victims left to lie in hospital toilets.
The Ukrainian healthcare system, already burdened by ongoing conflict and infrastructure attacks, is grappling to meet the challenges posed by the pandemic. Hospitals in the country, including Kyiv, have endured severe damage due to repeated attacks on medical infrastructure since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, with over 2,300 facilities either destroyed or damaged [5]. This inescapable reality has strained healthcare delivery and care capacity, leading to life-threatening situations such as power outages, oxygen deprivation, and patient deaths [5].
Medical personnel work tirelessly under extreme stress and hazardous conditions, sometimes having to function in complete darkness or without necessary resources. The targeting of ambulances and medical transport makes timely patient care and oxygen delivery further complicated [5].
However, the spirit of resilience remains strong. International aid organizations and medical personnel continue to support affected populations, introducing specialized treatment programs and providing training to healthcare workers to manage trauma and crisis care, amidst the increased demands of COVID-19 and war injuries [1][2][4].
In essence, Kyiv hospitals grapple with critical oxygen shortages and patient care issues under the weight of the COVID-19 pandemic, worsened by ongoing conflict and infrastructure attacks that have disrupted essential services and damaged medical facilities [5][1][2].
- Science and health-and-wellness experts are closely monitoring the ongoing struggle in Kyiv, with concerns about the impact of chronic diseases and respiratory conditions on vulnerable populations.
- The selfless act of a father, who sacrificed his daily oxygen allowance to his son, highlights the urgent need for medical-condition management and mental-health support in these challenging times.
- Fitness-and-exercise programs may play an essential role in boosting immunity and resilience among the population, helping them weather the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and the aftermath of the war.
- The Ukrainian healthcare system's response to the pandemic has been hampered by ongoing conflict, infrastructure attacks, and the aftermath of the full-scale Russian invasion, making it difficult to adequately address chronic diseases, mental-health issues, and several medical-conditions, particularly respiratory ones.
