A brave Greater Manchester NHS worker has told of little children being lined up and shot by Russian soldiers in war-ravaged Ukraine.
The NHS staff helped orphaned children and traumatised troops who had lost their families, homes and businesses to Vladimir Putin's invasion. Marta Roscoe, 37, from Stockport, was told by a Ukrainian amputee that he was forced to watch young children being lined up and shot by Kremlin troops.
Marta, who has a four-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, said: "It is absolutely brutal. One of the patients, Pyotr, said he saw his neighbours put in a line, including small children, and shot."
Marta, an administrator at Wythenshawe Hospital, was joined on the five-day trip by nurses Sister Louise Crossley-Birch, Janette Butterworth, vaccinator, mental health nursing assistant Michelle Piercy and paediatric intensive care nurse Nikki Forshaw-Mahon.
Mum-of-two Marta added: "It was heart-breaking to see young men in their twenties without legs. The atmosphere was so heavy, there were people there who had lost everything and had nothing to go back to.
"This is not just a war between the army, civilians are suffering the most. They have literally got nothing to come back to - they have lost their families, houses, businesses, their animals.
"I heard of one man who jut let his horses go wild to run for their lives when he heard the Russian soldiers were coming. He ran to the stables and let 15 horses out to run and he hoped they would be safe and not be shot, that maybe somebody would find them and take care of them."
Marta also works at the Hootons Pharmacy at Bolton Wanderers' vaccination centre and the Etihad Mass Vaccination Centre in Manchester, where she met her colleagues ahead of the mission. They arrived in Ukraine at 5am on September 5 and after two hours sleep visited Lviv emergency hospital to help patients.
She said: "People were ecstatic to see such a professional team from England - they believe that British medics are the best. Some patients were happy to see us, some were just too traumatised to talk."
The NHS staff woke the following day to an air siren and had to flee the basement and return to hospital to help war-hit patients and give training to hospital staff. They then visited an orphanage.
Marta said: "One 16-year-old boy said to me: 'I know will be sent to the frontline, if I get shot, how do I survive?' She says he wanted to know how to put a tourniquet on to stop the bleeding. He was determined to learn how to do it alone, as he said, 'I know I will be alone.'"
Marta, who carried a tourniquet in case she was shot, said: "You have to prepare for the worse - you never know." The team arrived back in Manchester yesterday (September 13). She said: "The trip was successful. In the short time available, we managed to provide training and basic first aid to the medical teams in Lviv Hospital, civilians and 100 teenagers in an orphanage.
"With the knowledge and expertise of the team, we also managed to sort and catalogue the donated drugs in the pharmacy department of the charity we were supporting. We were privileged to be allowed to visit a military hospital and also the modern Lviv hospitals where we have been invited to return.
"We are already planning training programmes to be delivered on our next visit. I have been liaising with several charities based in Ukraine and Poland to develop support programmes."
Marta thanked soldiers who risked prison to help them travel at night during the curfew.. She added: "You realise how important it is to have your family.
"It makes you realise how lucky people are to live in England, this is happening just a three-hour plane ride away. The experience, the stories and the pain in their eyes gives you a different perspective on life."
To follow Marta's stories on Instagram: @nurses_for_crisis.
Fire and police cordon off section of busy Salford road after huge soap spill
Mental health hospital where patients were 'bullied and abused by staff' put into special measures
Graffiti artist's honour over stunning mural of the Queen at Tameside pub
Plane which crash-landed in field seriously injuring its pilot lost engine power
