19-05-2025
Chicago's UI Health gives a second chance to severely wounded Ukrainian soldier
The war in Ukraine is now in its third year, and many times, soldiers on the front line cannot find the medical treatment they need to stay in their own country.
One organization is helping bring wounded Ukrainian servicemen to the U.S. and specifically Chicago.
Treatment for many of the soldiers lasts months, if not years, and UI Health at the University of Illinois Chicago — a hospital in a city with such a large Ukrainian population — has offered support when the medicine overseas isn't enough.
Dennys Slukhai is a soldier-turned-patient whom CBS News Chicago met in an exam room at UI Health. He lost both his legs in a battle, and an explosion tore through his colon.
"The war surgeons in Ukraine, they did a great job in saving his life, in stabilizing — but there was a big part of the bowel missing," said Dr. Pier Cristoforo Giulianotti, chief of general, minimally invasive, and robotic surgery at UI Health.
Giulianotti outlined how serious the explosion that caused Slukhai's injuries were.
"It was not just a bullet. It was an explosion," he said, "and you know, modern weapons are terrible, are so powerful, and so the entire middle part of the colon was missing."
Slukhai's injuries were so severe that he could not receive treatment in his home country. So doctors at UI Health took action.
"As I am Ukrainian, it feels extremely satisfying that besides, you know, praying, I can actually put my hands and help those who are in need physically and mentally," said Dr. Yevhen Pavelko, a general surgeon at UI Health.
Slukhai is one of about 10 soldiers brought to the U.S. from Ukraine by Revived Soldiers Ukraine since 2022. After almost two years of treatment, he is finally about to be fitted for prosthetics — so that his options are open.
Speaking through an interpreter, Slukhai said he would do it all again to help his country. When the war started, he was already serving Ukraine as a police officer, so there was no question he would enlist in the army.
He was on a mission to rescue wounded soldiers, when he said a Russian grenade exploded on his team's way home.
"We ask Ukraine doctors to give us cases that need the most attention," said Iryna Discipio, president and founder of Revived Soldiers Ukraine. "They don't have time, and they don't have medicine to assist Ukraine and the servicemen."
Revived Soldiers Ukraine facilitated Slukhai's transfer to UI Health for treatment. The organization's goal is to get soldiers the help they need so they can go back.
In Slukhai's case, he wants to pass his knowledge to younger service members. And when there is peace, he dreams of using his second chance to become a dentist.
Revived Soldiers Ukraine has also built rehab facilities in Ukraine modeled after facilities in America. They work with doctors around the U.S. who will offer their expertise to help soldiers with some of the worst injuries.
