Team BRIT driver Paul Fullick has once again travelled to Ukraine to deliver essential aid as part of his organisation ‘Ukraine Sunflower Aid’.
Paul is chair and trustee for the community group, that serves as the vital link between charities and organisations in the UK and Ukraine, transporting aid that is required throughout the country.
For this trip, Paul had been given an extra special piece of aid to deliver – a minibus supplied by one of our team sponsors, the Motability Scheme. The minibus was destined for an amputee centre in Kyiv, which does incredible work for soldiers that have been injured and suffered amputations as a result of their time on the front line.
The centre helps the troops with their rehabilitation and recovery through sport, organising and hosting wheelchair basketball training and matches. In Paul’s most recent trip, he delivered more than 800 prosthetic limbs to the centre.
On the 20th June, Paul headed out in the minibus, which was packed full of essential aid, joined by a producer from a film company who is creating a documentary on the work of the charity.
Paul also took a basketball wheelchair from UK manufacturer RGK, to add to the centre’s fleet of wheelchairs used by the patients for sport.
Paul explains: “There are 50,000 new amputees in Ukraine who are waiting for treatment, some who have been waiting since the conflict began. We may not see as much coverage of the war in UK media anymore, but it is very much still happening, and the need for aid has never stopped.
“The centre we are supporting does incredible things for the people it supports. These men and women have come directly from the frontline, having lost a limb, and are spending time recovering before going back out. They want to help the defence efforts and protect their country on behalf of their families, so want to recover quickly and return to their duties.
“The volunteers at the centre are working to keep them busy and get them physically fit through wheelchair basketball and other activities. You can’t just come away from a war zone and be sedentary, something I have experience of myself from being injured when I was in the army, so this kind of activity really helps. We were lucky enough to see the inter- Ukraine wheelchair basketball final when we were there, and delivered a wheelchair that was instantly used in the match. It was brilliant seeing how much they’re all getting from this.”
The new minibus, will be based at the centre and will be used to take the patients to and from their appointments for treatment and for physiotherapy, so will be a critical part of their recovery.
Paul explains: “The bus will be a game changer for them. The one they had, which was an old, donated UK ambulance, was really on its last legs, so was no longer fit for purpose. The ex-Motability Scheme vehicle is fantastic and will allow them to do more trips, for more people, more regularly.
“Recovery is critical for these men and women. I sat with them on the sidelines of the match we were watching, and 80% of them will end up retuning to the frontline. Until they do that, they want to get better, play sport and get fit. It’s really quite humbling to see their utter determination to return and defend their country. One guy I spoke with had sustained a foot injury in the conflict but I could see he had had his leg amputated right up to his hip. He explained his friends had tried to carry him from the battlefield to get him help, but ended up having to drag him for an hour, causing massive damage and infection. These people have been through horrific circumstances and I’m glad that we can play a small part in helping with their recovery, with the support of the Motability Scheme.”
Ukraine Sunflower Aid has now delivered 600 tonnes of aid to Ukraine and continues to deliver to hospitals, orphanages and the frontline, right across the country.
Anyone who would like to donate to these ongoing efforts can contact Paul via paul@teambrit.co.uk to find out more.
