SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – Three nurses from Mercy Hospital in Sacramento recently traveled at different times to the Ukrainian border to assist victims of Russia's atrocities in the war-torn country.
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The trio will be honored and will throw out ceremonial first pitches during Tuesday night's San Francisco Giants game at Oracle Park as part of the team's Nurse's Appreciation Night.
KCBS Radio spoke with one of the nurses, Vita Paddubna, about her emotional experience abroad.
Paddubna has worked as a nurse for two years at Dignity Health and still considers herself new to the profession. However, that didn't stop her from traveling to the border of Poland and Ukraine in March to help those fleeing the impacts of the war.
"This was a sad sight to see," Padubna told KCBS Radio. "Here were a lot of people just scared and running for their life essentially."
"It's just so much worse seeing it in person, just because you get those raw emotions first hand," she added.
Paddubna spent two weeks rendering aid at the border after her employer gave her time off to assist in the efforts. Her language skills and compassion helped families fleeing as they came across the border. "As soon as these Ukrainian people come across the border, they speak Ukrainian," she said. "In Poland, they either speak Polish or English. So what we would do is translate a lot of things for them."
Paddubna helped with logistics, translating and coordinating travel to get survivors to other countries.
"Germany, Spain or whether they wanted to stay in Poland, we helped them find housing or just a place to stay," she said. "Sometimes we helped them find jobs."
How did the experience impact her?
“A lot of mixed emotions,” Paddubna explained. "A lot of the people I would come in contact with just because they essentially had to pick up and leave their life, leaving everything behind to flee the war."
Paddubna said the experience was life-changing and affirmed her commitment to her career in nursing. She's also interested in returning, as there's no shortage of need for help.
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