ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — February 24, 2022.
It's a date Lisa Prytula rattled off without hesitation. It's the date Russia invaded Ukraine and started a barbaric rampage of death and destruction.
The world watched in horror and Prytula, a first-generation American whose parents escaped Ukraine as children during World War II, decided she must act.
"I quickly realized I had to redirect all of my emotions and help out in the best way I know how to and I’m a nurse so I had to go and be a nurse," Prytula said.
She used her own money and vacation time to travel from St. Petersburg, Florida, to Poland for three weeks in May volunteering in an orphanage, refugee medical center and hospital.
It was the most demanding work she's ever done.
"This is some of the hardest work I’ve ever done, emotionally, psychologically, and physically," she said. "Some of the hardest work I’ve ever done but I’d be harder to do nothing so I actually felt better after volunteering than I did when I was sitting on the couch on February 24th just crying and watching the news."
Prytula would work a minimum of 12 hours straight tending to a steady stream of patients. Some refugees had acute conditions brought on by the stress and physical strain of the journey. Others had chronic illnesses like diabetes or high blood pressure that had gone untreated or recent injuries that had become infected. A large number of refugees had dental and optical needs.
Whatever the situation, volunteers from around the world were there to serve and heal.
Prytula was one of the few volunteers who speaks fluent Ukrainian thanks to her upbringing and her parents' insistence she and her sisters attend Ukrainian summer camps and Saturday school while growing up in Detroit.
"I could actually hear their story and they could tell me the horrible loss that they just suffered, I could hold their hand and I could cry with them which happened frequently," Prytula.
Her parents who are both 84 years old still living in Detroit watch the events unfold with especially heavy hearts and flashbacks.
"At times they are weepy and withdrawn and I can’t imagine what’s going on through their minds, Prytula said. "Are they recalling their own experience as they watch the horror on TV?"
Her parents grew up in camps after the Nazis invaded Ukraine until both sets of grandparents fled to free land. Her dad's family landing in Canada, her mom's in upstate New York.
"They had to make a very difficult choice, you know, die as your homes are being destroyed or you know, try to escape."
Two generations later, Lisa Prytula is the helper instead of the refugee.
Prytula volunteered through the organization International Medical Relief. To learn how to help, click here.