Serhii’s Story: A Chain of Breaths That Didn’t Break

There are cities that keep breathing even when it seems that the very air has turned into silence. Kharkiv is one of them.

And among these breaths are the voices of our social workers, who since 2021 have been implementing the project “You Should Know About Tuberculosis” and supporting survivors of domestic violence.

It was in this center that Serhii’s story began — the story of an ordinary man who once lived in a dormitory next to a woman seeking help. She mentioned him between two breaths — and that memory became the beginning of his recovery.

The social workers found Serhii, helped him undergo screening and then medical examination. The diagnosis — multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. Treatment took time and perseverance: neither the COVID pandemic nor the full-scale invasion stopped the doctors and social workers, who continued delivering medicines to patients even in the hardest months.

Today Serhii is healthy. His recovery has become part of Kharkiv’s shared breath — the breath of a city that does not lose its humanity, even in turbulent times.

Human life is a chain of breaths, where each person’s inhale becomes another’s chance to live.

Read the full story in the “Success Stories” section on the website of NGO “Labor and Health Social Initiatives” (LHSI).

The project “You Should Know About Tuberculosis” is implemented by NGO “Labor and Health Social Initiatives” (LHSI) with the support of the Alliance for Public Health under a grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.