With her hands filled and flight booked, Ukrainian nurse practitioner Natalia Iantsevych walks the halls of Logan International Airport on a mission. She's heading home to help her fellow countrymen.
“I do feel like I want to be involved and that’s the right thing just to keep my sanity. At least that I’ve done something for the country and for the people," she said Sunday.
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Her people are fleeing the country at a rapid pace as the sounds and images of war pulsate through her homeland.
"I don’t think I will ever be able to accept this."
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She said she wants to return to tend to soldiers and civilians in need. She took a mental health break from work the day after Russian forces began invading Ukraine. It was then she knew she needed to leave.
“I believe that every Ukrainian needs to be involved in some way," she said.
Her brown bags are full of gauze, sutures and an array of other medical supplies. Whether it's enough is undetermined, given she doesn't know how long she'll be gone. She will begin work in a hospital, but she doesn't know how long she'll be there or where she'll wind up.
“Maybe a month, maybe three to four months, I don’t know. Depending on the circumstances there. Depends on the need," she explained.
Her need now is to fulfill the needs of others in a war she'll come face to face with on the other end of her flight.
“We all have to stand for Ukraine and freedom.”
