Helping and supporting others is what Jordi and his wife Olha do best; anytime, any day, as nothing is too much for this super team!
On this occasion they decided to take a journey out to Longford to meet 72 year old Minel Podolian and her daughter, after hearing that travel would be difficult for them due to the daughter’s 1 year old baby.
After having suffered from hearing loss for quite some time, even whilst living in Bucha, Ukraine, she decided since arriving in Ireland now was finally the time to act. After seeing our poster, they contacted Jordi and Olha to see how they could help.
Like most of the refugees they have met, Minel was struggling to socialise, and the added pressure of not knowing what the future holds whilst living in a foreign country, just makes the situation that much harder. Feeling isolated, not just from the language barrier, but also from both inside and outside of her friend and family circle, you can just imagine how difficult adapting has been for her.
Yet despite all that, Jordi states:
Everything that has happen to their town, friends and family and the uncertainty of their future, the strength they showed during the appointment was beyond words
After the hearing test finished, Jordi confirmed the start of Minel’s hearing journey and discussed fitting her with a pair of mini BTE hearing aids. Delighted with the offer, Jordi and Olha hope to be able to visit them again soon for a fitting and get Minel on the right track to better hearing!
The daughter sent us a message to show their gratitude:
My family came to Ireland from Ukraine, from the Kyiv region (Irpin, Bucha). We fled the war! My mother does not hear well, this problem is long-standing and not examined. I did not think that by calling the phone that was found in the help group for Ukrainians in Telegram, I would receive such help. A friendly girl Olha answered me on the phone, she said that her husband is a doctor, Dr. Jordi, and is ready to help Ukrainian refugees for free! Olha explained that it is necessary to make an audiogram in order to get ahead of the degree of deafness, for this it is necessary to come to Dr. Jordi's clinic in Dublin. We are staying at a hotel in Longford. It was a long way to get to Dublin without a car (I have one year old child). Dr. Jordi went to meet us, and on his day off he came to our hotel, with equipment, and carried out the necessary examination for my grandmother. We are waiting now for Grandma's hearing aids to be ordered in the UK. We hope that it will be free for us.
Dear Dr. Jordi! I want to express my deep gratitude to you for your help, for your responsiveness, for your quality treatment, for your medical ethics and for your professionalism in your field. Thank you for your endless kindness and warm attitude. I wish you all the best and only grateful patients!