(Reuters) – A former U.S. Marine, known as “Jumbo,” thought he might lose the use of his fingers after being hit by shrapnel from a mortar round and grenade dropped by Russian drones while fighting for Ukraine. Jumbo, along with 12 other wounded foreign volunteers, needed treatment and were transported to Germany’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in August. The RT Weatherman Foundation, a U.S. nonprofit group, covered most of the cost for their medical care. After undergoing surgery to restore feeling to his fingers, Jumbo returned to Ukraine. Four foreign fighters, including Jumbo, who were treated at Landstuhl, expressed their intention to support their comrades and confront Russia.
Jumbo, who joined the Ukrainian Army in February, felt directionless after leaving the Marines in 2021. He was injured along with 26 other volunteers in a July operation in southeast Ukraine, resulting in the deaths of two volunteers. Treating wounded volunteers at Landstuhl demonstrates a higher level of U.S. commitment to Ukraine. The Biden administration has had to rely on funds from a multi-billion dollar accounting error to support Kyiv, as a stopgap spending bill passed by the House of Representatives excluded new Ukraine aid.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, thousands of foreign volunteers, including hundreds of Americans, have joined regular Ukraine army units and a foreign legion. According to officials from aid groups Safe Passage 4 Ukraine and Weatherman, around 30 American volunteers have been killed. The four interviewed fighters revealed that dozens of foreign volunteers are wounded each month.
Safe Passage 4 Ukraine has funded the travel of 14 injured foreign volunteers to fly home in just one week, according to co-founder Rachel Jamison. Weatherman spent approximately $30,000 in September on evacuations and anticipated spending the same amount to transfer seven more cases to Landstuhl, according to the group’s president Meaghan Mobbs. Of the 20 Ukrainian Army patients admitted so far, 16 have been foreign volunteers, according to Marcy Sanchez, a spokesman for the hospital.
The British charity ReactAid established procedures to evacuate foreign fighters from Ukraine and facilitated the transportation of one of the first foreign volunteers to Landstuhl in July. Although the hospital was authorized a year ago to allocate 18 of its 65 beds to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, few soldiers arrived before August. Craig Borthwick, lead medic for ReactAid, criticized the bureaucratic obstacles involved in obtaining the necessary military, medical, and government authorizations.
David Bramlette and Nathan Chan, coordinators for RT Weatherman, attributed their success in gaining permission for Landstuhl transfers to their close relationships with army units and doctors. Both have previously served as volunteer fighters. Bramlette emphasized the need for triage and selective treatment, as not all wounded volunteers can be accommodated. He personally visits volunteers in hospitals to advocate for their treatment and alleviate their isolation.
Credit: The Star : News Feed
