The basement, the grandmother and the rescue
Oleksandr’s story began with hope. He left his village in Vinnytsia for Odesa to build a better life. He worked, exercised, fished, found love. But when that love turned into betrayal, he walked away — with nowhere to go.
Soon he found himself homeless. Rain, cold, hunger — and eventually, illness. As his health deteriorated, drugs offered a false escape. Two years vanished in a haze. One night, his body gave up. An ambulance arrived just in time.
His grandmother came to take him home. In a new town, thanks to the “You Should Know About Tuberculosis” project, a social worker screened him and referred him for testing. Diagnosis: TB. Urgently hospitalized, Oleksandr began treatment — and a new chapter.
The “You Should Know About Tuberculosis” project is run by LHSI with support from the Global Fund through the Alliance for Public Health in six regions of Ukraine. In Vinnytsia alone, over 250 people have been screened in just six months — and one life-saving diagnosis was made.