Jacek Szydłowski fotograf

Warsaw. First anniversary of the attack on Ukraine. Almost 20 000 Ukrainians gathered in front of the Russian Embassy. They paid tribute to the heroes of the war and showed gratitude to Poles for their support for Ukraine.

**kputin

May 2022. Lublin. Refugees from Ukraine, living together in one house at Liliowa street. Before war it was a home for Olga, Łukasz and their daughter. They don’t live there anymore. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine their house has become a temporary shelter for about 2000 refugees. They can find there a place to sleep, warm meal and everything else they need. Olga and Łukasz are also organizing transport, places to stay and full help for Ukrainian refugees in other countries, such as the Netherlands or Germany.

1. Alla - she used to work as a teacher at elementary school
2. Natalia and Dania, her blind grandson
3. Wania and Weronika from Charkov
4. Jura with his daughter Barbara
5. Weronika preparing food packages for refugees
6. Olga nad Weronika chatting
7. Łukasz in his garaże transformer into a huge bedroom

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March 2022. Railway station in Chełm - Poland. Refugees arriving from Ukraine. **kputin

Warsaw. Refugees from Ukraine gathering at railway stations. Many of them have to spend the night sleeping on the floor. **kputin

01.03.2022. Przemyśl. Railway station. Refugees from Ukraine waiting in a queue, minutes before border control. **kputin

22.03.2022 Przemyśl.Railway station. Refugees arriving from Ukraine. **kputin

02.03.2022. Przemyśl. 12 year old Polina Umaniets from Żytomierz is reunited with her mother. The girl arrived from Ukraine to Poland by train, accompanied by two brothers and other relatives. Her mother Julia haven’t seen her kids for seven months. She lives with her husband in Gdańsk. They were driving for ten hours to Przemyśl and pick their kids up from the railways station. Their car was’t big enough for the whole family, so Polina, Julia and two aunts had to take a bus to Gdansk.
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1st of March 2022. Anastasia Hrohulenko holding her 4 year old son David. The are among thousands of refugees from Ukraine arriving to Przemyśl every day. **kputin

27.02.2022. Warsaw. Railway station. Ukrainian refugees arriving from Kiev. **kputin

Protest against Russian’s invasion of Ukraine in front of the Embassy of Russia in Warsaw. **kputin

25.02.22 Warsaw. Bus station. Ukrainians returning to their home country to join the army. **kputin

Poland’s Covid death toll passed 100,000. The number of deaths per capita is among the highest in the world.
- I was very close, but fortunately I’m still here. It’s like a new life - says Jadwiga. She spent several days on life support at ICU, in Regional Specialist Hospital in Lublin. You can see her at picture number 2, talking to her relatives. She is still very weak so doctor Mateusz Szymański has to hold her mobile phone. Almost all patients at this ICU are unvaccinated.
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Regional Specialist Hospital in Lublin. Intensive care unit for people with COVID-19. Dr Edyta Rybak examining the patient. He was her classmate at school. Now dr Rybak and her colleagues are trying to save his life. All of their patients are unvaccinated. One of them is a young mom seen on the last picture, talking to dr Mateusz Szymanski. - It was close. I could die or lost my baby. I’m glad everything is getting better. Now I know it’s stupid to believe in all these stories about global companies using people as test subjects - she says.
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Regional Specialist Hospital in Lublin. Dr Mateusz Szymański and his colleagues during their daily work at intensive care unit for patients with COVID-19.

Clinical Hospital No. 1. Intensive Care Clinic for patients with COVID-19. They are much younger now than during previous waves of pandemic. Almost all are unvaccinated. Only few of them have a chance to survive.

Recconaissance squads of Polish Teritorial Defence Forces during nigt march.

Telling someone that their relative is dead is one of the hardest things in doctor’s job. During last months I was photographing daily work of medics from emergency and intensive care units for patients with Covid-19. It was one of these days when despite all their efforts and knowledge, doctors lost their fight.

- I’m 51, but I feel like an old man - says Piotr Madej. He was infected with coronavirus and spent three weeks on life-support, at ICU in Regional Specialist Hospital in Lublin.
- The last thing I remember is flying medical helicopter. I woke up afer a few weeks. I didn’t know where I am and what happened - says Piotr.
He allowed me to document his fight for life and difficult recovery. At the beginning we were communicating by simple gestures or blinking. He was’t able to say a word or even move his hand. Thanks to doctors, nurses and physical therapists he is getting better every day. Daily exercises help him to rebuild his strength, but it’s not a fast process.
- I feel like I got a new life. Now it’s time to think what should I do with it - says Piotr. After several weeks in hospital he is able to walk on his own legs again.

I’ve been photographing pandemic outbreak in Poland from its beginning - in March 2020. It was always about people - medics and patients. Some of them let me to document their fight for life and difficult recovery. Thank you for your trust and openness.

Full story and more pictures here:

https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/prosze-obiecac-ze-wszystko-bedzie-dobrze-6647285556296672a?nil=&src01=f1e45&src02=isgf

One of these patients I followed with my camera is Jarosław Dymara - chemistry teacher from Lublin. Today, after two months he left the hospital. He could enjoy the sun and hug his loved ones. Get well soon!

"Proszę obiecać, że wszystko będzie dobrze" Większość ludzi, którym zrobiłem zdjęcia, już nie żyje, a dalej słyszę, że pandemia jest zmyślona - mówi Wirtualnej Polsce Jacek Szydłowski. Przez wiele tygodni na oddziale COVID-19 w Lublinie fotografował,