GOSPEL AND TØYS: The Journey of a Ukrainian Refugee Family in Norway

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GOSPEL AND TØYS: Dad Yurij Girskyj (41) jokes with his son Denys (5) inside the room at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VGSOMMERFUGL: First, Denys attaches a butterfly sticker to dad’s forehead, before putting it on his hand. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VG

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GOSPEL AND TØYS: Dad Yurij Girskyj (41) jokes with his son Denys (5) inside the room at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VG

ULLEVÅL UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL (VG) While Alla Girskyj (40) and Denys (5) have begun to establish themselves as Ukrainian refugees in Norway, Yurij (41), badly injured in the war, envisions becoming a soldier again.

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The snow falls in the capital and settles as a thin layer on the ground. Christmas is approaching, also at Ullevål University Hospital. Alla Girskyj and her son Denys (5) rush in the direction of Yurij, husband and father, who is in the hospital.

He is a Ukrainian paratrooper and lost one of his legs in a Russian bomber attack north of Bakhmut almost a year ago. The other leg was badly damaged and in June he was medically evacuated by a Norwegian team in a specially built plane, so that the doctors in Oslo could do what they could to save the leg he has left. Alla and Denys joined the plane – and with that a new life in Norway awaited.

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OVERALL: Weekly Alla (40) and Denys visit Yurij in the hospital. It is good for the whole family. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VGSNART CHRISTMAS: The five-year-old has drawn Christmas motifs on the board that hangs next to Yurij’s hospital bed. A Santa and a Christmas tree create a Christmas atmosphere. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VGSØTSAKER: With him into the room, Denys gets two chocolate muffins with glaze in the colors of the Ukrainian flag. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VGHOS DAD: The five-year-old munches on a muffin next to his father’s hospital bed. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VG

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OVERALL: Weekly Alla (40) and Denys visit Yurij in the hospital. It is good for the whole family. Photo: Janne Møller-Hansen / VG

Over five months have passed and the family has only just begun to take root.

Alla and Denys enter Yurij’s room, who greets them with a cautious smile. Denys carries with him chocolate muffins that he has been given by the nurses on the ward. The five-year-old sets about with the one muffin.

Alla looks in the direction of her husband.

– I am very worried about him. He has been in bed for almost a year.

Lost his brother

She says that the Ukrainian volunteers help to keep his spirits up, especially with the Ukrainian food they bring with them. Together they go on trips.

– Without them he would have given up, says Alla.

– I am on the road to recovery. The worst is over. It’s getting better and better, says Yurij.

Yurij has already been through several operations and is still not finished.

– This will take time, says Yurij.

– He is at great risk of infection. It is a long time before he can start his rehabilitation, says Alla.

– I clearly have a goal of being able to walk again, says Yurij.

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EVACUATION: This is what it looked like when Yurij was medically evacuated to Norway. Here he is wheeled on a stretcher in the direction of the specially built plane at Rzeszow Airport in the far east of Poland. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VGEVACUERING: This is what it looked like when Yurij was medically evacuated to Norway. Here, his wife Alla ensures that the man gets settled on the stretcher inside the SAS plane. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VGEVACUERING: This is what it looked like when Yurij was medically evacuated to Norway. Denys (5) cradles his father when they are reunited outside Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

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EVACUATION: This is what it looked like when Yurij was medically evacuated to Norway. Here he is wheeled on a stretcher in the direction of the specially built plane at Rzeszow Airport in the far east of Poland. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

Alla says that she is looking forward to Christmas in Norway and to see how Norwegians decorate and celebrate Christmas.

– It will be exciting, she says.

Denys finds a sticker and puts it on the forehead of his cardboard. Next to the bed hangs a blackboard on which the five-year-old has drawn a Santa and a Christmas tree with a red marker.

The Christmas idyll at the hospital stands in stark contrast to the tragedy that happened in August. Then the unthinkable happened. Yurij’s brother Andrej stepped on a mine in Zaporizhzhya and died.

– I miss him very much. But he died a hero, says Yurij.

– When my legs get better, I will go back to Ukraine. I hope I can become a soldier again. I still have my arms.

Full department

Responsible senior physician at the medevac bedside post, Geir Stray Andreassen, is optimistic on behalf of his patients.

– We are doing what we can to ensure that this goes well.

– It is very challenging and time-consuming to work with this type of damage. It takes many months to process, he continues.

He faces Christmas with a completely full department. War injured people walk and drive in wheelchairs in the corridors.

– The patients are impressive. As long as there is progress, they stay positive. But when there are setbacks, it’s heavy. It’s disappointing for both us and them.

The experienced orthopedist thinks of the many thousands injured in Ukraine and now in the Gaza Strip. He has long worked with war injuries.

– I am waiting to enter Gaza, but so far we have not received anyone.

UKRAINIAN FLAG: Alla and Denys look out of the window at the asylum reception center in Drammen. They are getting ready to visit Yurij at Ullevål University Hospital in Oslo. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

Best friend in kindergarten

Alla and Denys live in a room adapted for the disabled at an asylum reception in Drammen, awaiting permanent settlement closer to Yurij. Outside is the wheelchair with accessories wrapped in plastic. There is a long way to go.

– He still has many months left of the treatment at the hospital, says Alla.

She is in good spirits and finds great joy in the fact that Denys has started in the refugee nursery which is nearby. He has already learned some Norwegian phrases and made a new best friend in one of the other children.

Inside their room at the asylum reception, Denys is running back and forth. He has reached the age of five in Norway and an inflatable number five hangs along the wall. She shows pictures of the five-year-old dressed as a ghost at a Halloween celebration with the other children.

– We are quite happy here, but we are still waiting for the permanent location.

APARTMENT: Denys rides back and forth on his skateboard inside the small one-room apartment the family has been allocated at the asylum center in Drammen. In the background still hangs the balloon that Denys got for the fifth anniversary they celebrated in Norway. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

The room is already furnished as there is a family with small children living here. With toys under the TV and a skateboard that is used frequently.

– During the last few months, we have been moved many times. Now I’m just happy to be in a place.

The road has been from Oslo – through Arendal and Kristiansand – before they now live in Drammen. Now they are anxiously waiting for permanent placement in a home in Oslo, so that they can be close to Yurij when he is in hospital. Then Alla can also start language training to learn Norwegian.

– The waiting time has not really been that difficult. There is a lot to do here, so time flies.

Rock, scissors and paper

Last autumn, Alla and Denys visited the family in Kyiv. Then she had a strong attraction to her hometown, which has since passed.

– I didn’t want to come back. I just wanted to stay.

The visit came after a difficult time when Yurij lost his brother Andrej – who was also a Ukrainian soldier – in battle.

– We were very sorry when it happened, but now we have learned to accept it, says Alla.

All head towards the kindergarten in a large brick building nearby. She will pick up Denys early so that they can visit dad in the hospital. In the kindergarten, all the children sit around the table and eat slices of orange and peach jam.

THE KINDERGARTEN: Denys makes pranks with the other children in the refugee kindergarten in Drammen. Soon he will visit dad in the hospital. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VG

– Here they get a common platform for the children, but also for the adults. Here they have a common language, says director Friha Iqbal.

Denys lights up when mum comes to collect, before continuing to joke with the other children. They play rock, scissors and paper.

Mum patiently puts a jacket, necktie and hat on him. But then Denys doesn’t want to leave the nursery because he wants to stay and play. Mom nags and finally gets him off. The trip goes towards Oslo and the university hospital. Now they have begun to make up their minds about the future and what it will bring.

– I don’t know if we will stay here for good. Yurij wants to go home.

WINTER: Mum dresses the five-year-old in winter clothes so that they will travel in the direction of Oslo to visit Yurij. Photo: Helge Mikalsen / VGPPublished:

Published: 10.12.23 at 01:33

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2023-12-10 00:33:44


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