Refugee receives treatment Ukrainian woman with cancer makes it to Bonn University Hospital
Destroyed infrastructure, bombed hospitals. People in Ukraine fear for their lives not only because of the war, but because they have life-threatening illnesses but cannot be treated. Alina Pantus suffers from cancer and has now been admitted to the university hospital.
Every day, refugees from Ukraine present themselves at Bonn University Hospital (UKB) in dire need. Because of the war, they cannot continue their medical treatment and vital therapies. At the Parent-Child Centre on the Venusberg, for example, three children with cancer are admitted for urgent care. Alina Pantus is being treated in the gynaecological clinic. "I have cervical cancer," says the 38-year-old. She actually had a treatment appointment on 24 February as part of her cancer therapy. But on that day the war began.
Pantus lives in Kiev with her husband Vitali and their son. In spring 2021, she noticed the first symptoms that prompted her to see a gynaecologist. After several examinations, there was no longer any doubt about the diagnosis. Surgery and radiotherapy followed. But she noticed symptoms again quite quickly, she reports in a conversation with Daria Siverina, the deputy UKB press officer, who arranged for a translation of the history of her illness and escape. Pantus only speaks Ukrainian. Siverina is also involved as a refugee volunteer.
Life depends on immediate flight
A Kiev oncologist had advised the mother of a 14-year-old to have a biopsy. The appointment - 24 February - did not take place. For Pantus, it was immediately clear: her life depended on her leaving the country quickly to continue her therapy. Through her husband, she contacted Donatas Zalepugas. He is a friend of the thoracic surgeon at the UKB. The senior physician initiated the admission of Pantus.
The cancer patient had to overcome the biggest hurdle herself, namely escaping from Kiev. At night, in a completely darkened train, so as not to become a target for the Russian troops, she had set off for the Polish border. The evacuation train from Kiev to Warsaw was not shown on the display boards in the station. People found out about it via social media - the train was hopelessly overcrowded. "There were seven of us, and often ten, sitting in the compartments where actually only three people could fit. It was stuffy and unbearably hot," Pantus reports. "There were also women sleeping in the corridors - right on the cold floor. We helped them out with blankets we had in the compartments. It was also bad that we didn't have a working toilet."
Women and children in the overcrowded train
From Warsaw, they went more quickly by bus directly to Bonn. Here, Alexander Mustea, Director of the Clinic for Gynaecology and Gynaecological Oncology at the UKB, and his team are now taking care of the Ukrainian patient. "Alina Pantus is one of thousands of refugees who have to flee not only from the Russian army, but also because they can no longer continue their medical treatment," says Mustea. "It is our duty to stand by these people and help them."
Wolfgang Holzgreve, Medical Director and Chairman of the Board of UKB, pays the utmost respect to colleagues in Ukraine who continue to care for their patients during the most difficult time and under unimaginable conditions. Holzgreve underlines the position of the UKB that children from Ukraine have been treated since the beginning of the war and that all patients "who come to us from the country continue to be cared for in the UKB". In addition, the UKB helps clinics in Ukraine with urgently needed medicines and medical supplies.
(Original text: Jutta Specht; Translation: Mareike Graepel)
