Global Affairs Canada is advising Canadians to avoid traveling to Ukraine as the Russian invasion intensifies and is targeting residential neighbourhoods, but a Quebec doctor is ignoring the warning and is heading to the front line.
On Thursday, Dr. Julien Auger said good-bye to his wife and kids in St. Jerome, Que. as he heads to Ukraine to provide medical care to the humanitarian crisis caused by the war.
The United Nations human rights office said so far 227 people have died and 525 have been injured in the week since the invasion started.
Seeing that on television made Auger want to do something about it.
“When the Ukrainian health ministry called for foreign medical workers to come help, I decided to answer the call,” he told CTV News at the airport before boarding a flight to Europe.
The 35-year-old who has been practicing medicine for 10 years realizes that leaving his family behind is a difficult choice, but it’s one that he said he needs to make.
“My wife, she would prefer that I stay here, but she understands my decision and she supports me. I know — and she knows — that there is some risk to what I’m doing,” he said.
He said he’s not going to take any “stupid risks” while he’s in the war zone. He said there are hospitals that are not directly in conflict zones and are overwhelmed.
His trip is not being coordinated by any specific organization. The Canadian Red Cross and Médecins Sans Frontières has not called for doctors to go over to Ukraine either, so he’s doing it on his own accord — not knowing where he will be sent, but knowing he has the skills to help.
His plan is to arrive in Poland where he will register at a humanitarian coordination center and work with an official organization on the ground to provide medical aid.
Since he posted online that he’s decided to go to Ukraine he said he has received questions from others asking how they can help out as well. He said once he gets there, he can hopefully relay that information to those who want to pitch in.
Since the war started just over a week ago, videos on social media showed average citizens in Ukraine standing up to Russian military forces, including cases of residents blocking roads with nothing but their bodies.
Auger said that bravery is what inspired him to go overseas to help.
“I really admire the courage of the Ukrainian people. I admire their determination, I was inspired by that,” he said, “so I felt like I had to at least try to do something.”