72-year-old mathematics teacher Vira Ovsiannikova from the village of Andriivka in the Dnipropetrovsk region spent two years giving lessons directly from the hospital ward of the UNBROKEN rehabilitation centre in Lviv, where she was caring for her severely wounded son, soldier Volodymyr.
The teacher worked at the local lyceum for almost half a century: she taught mathematics for 49 years, 17 of which she combined teaching with the duties of deputy head responsible for extracurricular activities. She organised celebrations and trips for the pupils and prepared school leavers for university entrance.
Three years ago, in August 2023, her son Volodymyr, a serviceman, sustained a severe mine-blast injury at the front. He lost a leg, an arm and an eye, underwent 48 operations and a lengthy course of rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN centre. For the first year, the soldier was completely bedridden and needed constant care from his mother.
In hospital with her son, Vira Hryhorivna did not abandon her pupils either. She continued to teach mathematics remotely: instead of a classroom there was a ward or doctors’ room, instead of a blackboard a laptop or tablet. Sitting on the windowsill by her son’s bed, she held online lessons so she could stay by his side and at the same time not interrupt the pupils’ education, especially that of her final-year class.
“I am giving a lesson, and my son says: ‘Give me some water.’ The pupils would immediately fall silent. I gave him some water and then carried on. And the children worked, and the soldiers who were in the ward would prompt them and help them… At night, when my son could sleep for a while, I had to prepare for the next day’s lessons,” recalls Mrs Vira.
According to the teacher, work helped her stay strong: the children expected her to be energetic and focused, and she set herself the goal of seeing her Year 11 class through to graduation. The pupils sat the NMT, the results satisfied their teacher, and she was invited to join their graduation ceremony remotely.
Vira Hryhorivna admits that the very opportunity to go on teaching became a lifeline for her during the hardest period. She felt the support of the school head, colleagues, pupils and their parents. Only after she had seen her last class through to graduation did the teacher allow herself to retire.
Now Vira Ovsiannikova is once again in Lviv with her son — Volodymyr is undergoing a new stage of rehabilitation at the NEZLAMNI (UNBROKEN) centre based at the First Medical Association of Lviv. This centre provides comprehensive support to people affected by the war: each patient is treated by a multidisciplinary team — a surgeon, traumatologist, prosthetist, psychotherapist and rehabilitation specialists, so all the necessary medical care can be received in one place.