Northbrook doctor provides update on assisting refugees with medical care at Poland, Ukraine boarder

CHICAGO (CBS) — A Northbrook doctor and his friend — a nurse practitioner from northern Wisconsin — are wrapping up a week on the border between Poland and Ukraine. Offering medical care to refugees.

From their medical tent on the border, they spoke with CBS 2’s Chris Tye about what doesn’t get reported back here at home and the unexpected stops they’ve made along the way.

Their plan was to spend the week on the Polish side of the Poland/Ukraine border.

But something happened.

Huge numbers of refugees that fled Ukraine for Poland began reversing course — returning back to the war-torn country.

A surprise that lead this medical team to do something they didn’t plan on — entering Ukraine.

“You know, a lot of people have been resigned this war is gonna go on for a long time and a lot of the women and their family, the wives and their children, they didn’t want to be gone from their husbands who are in the military, and so they’re going back and so it sort of distressing to see,” said Dr. Jeremy Topin, Pulmonologist. 

“There just are a lot of people on the other side of the border that are reluctant to cross over, and it seems we both feel you know, personally that we do a little bit more good crossing over to support them,” said Michelle Petersen, Nurse practitioner. 

“You know, I think our first time over we were very wary, we kind of had someone who had been over there kind of chaperoning us,” Topin said.

“They had a driver on the other side waiting for us to take us to the school I think I think it ended up being very benign. We went about a mile or two and it was to his school and felt very safe there.”

“There was like thunder going on actually in the background and some of the people there was the thunder was going off. You could see them being very unsettled. For those in that, you can kind of tell they’ve been living through things that we obviously aren’t.”

“We’ve since gone over a few more times and you know, at least right on the border. It feels it feels very safe.”

“When you see people having their whole lives in a backpack and shuttling it across and that’s it you do appreciate what you have.”

What they have is just two more days before heading home to Chicago — They leave Sunday, May 1.

The date many Ukrainians are fearful of is May 9. 

Why that date? 

May 9th is considered Victory Day in Russia; the day Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945 — it looms this week.

The pair are traveling through a group called Rescuers Without Borders. Both say the pandemic refocused their passion for medicine — triggering this trip. A trip, both say will change the way they view medicine here at home.