IVAN VENZHYNOVYCH

Family general practitioner at the Pochaiv District Hospital. As a therapist and infectious disease specialist, he was a member of the ambulance team. Since the beginning of the pandemic, in April 2020, he provided medical care to patients with COVID-19. For almost six months of his daily gruelling work, not a single patient died. The photo of Venzhynovych, which was taken by The Associated Press news agency, among other photos of Ukrainian doctors, was posted on a billboard with the inscription “Thank you for life” as part of the national campaign from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine. On September 30, 2020, at the age of 51, Ivan Venzhynovych’s heart stopped beating in the Pochaiv hospital. He died of bilateral pneumonia caused by COVID-19.

The winner of the Light of Justice Award for moral, spiritual, and ethical leadership had a wife and two children. The award was presented posthumously, and Ivan Venzhyhonovych’s family accepted it.