A doctor from the Romanian community in Chernivtsi (Cernauti) has transformed a bus into a mobile dental clinic, which he uses to travel the front lines giving free medical assistance to soldiers fighting against Russia.
The doctor, Viorel Răducan, owns a dental clinic in the city of Chernivtsi. When the war started, he decided to offer free services to all soldiers with dental problems.
He purchased a bus, outfitted it to serve as a mobile dental clinic, and recently traveled to Bakhmut. Once there, Răducan and a few other colleagues offered consultations and treatment to over 30 soldiers fighting on the eastern flank of Ukraine.
“Some of our soldiers are without teeth, with chronic pain, who are not treated. When they were taken to the front, they were unprepared for war. I have many colleagues who were taken to the front and who are very familiar with soldiers’ problems. They asked us for help and to go to those areas. I put my own money, which I earned from implantology work, and bought a bus from Romania, equipped it with two dental chairs, with beds, and went to the front, to help,” Răducan told Agerpres.
The doctor received a warm welcome from the Ukrainian troops.
“When we went they said that God sent us. Can you imagine what it’s like to stay in trenches, in the wind and cold, and to have your teeth hurt as well? There was someone who also had sinusitis and could not do anything. He had a temperature, he had a fever. We treated him right there in the bus. We kept him on the beds in our bus for ten days and stabilized him. We had over 30 people who had acute and chronic diseases,” Viorel Răducan recalled.
After returning home, the doctor then left for the northern area, to Rivne, with another team of volunteer doctors and assistants.
Răducan says he is convinced he will receive support from both Ukraine and Romania and that he will continue to assist the soldiers. “It would be good if we were supported, at least with diesel, because just the diesel for one trip costs EUR 700 – 800,” he explained.
The dentist also made arrangements with the soldiers on the front so that when they go on leave, they can benefit from free services at the clinic in Chernivtsi.
(Photo source: Viorel Radukan on Facebook)
