Ukraine’s leading cancer hospital has kept going despite losing medics to combat, patients with no homes to return to and vital drugs running low
Serhiy, who comes from Mariupol, underwent surgery for lung cancer on 22 February. He was in the recovery ward two days later when he was woken up by the sounds of war. “ I thought it was a fire alarm,” he said. “It was a double shock to learn what had happened from a nurse. Not only had Russia invaded my country, but I could barely move after my operation and we needed to get to the bomb shelter.”
Serhiy was among 450 patients who were receiving treatment at the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv when Russia invaded on 24 February; 40 of them were children recovering after surgery, chemotherapy or bone marrow transplants.
