DR. OLEH ANTONYSHYN RECEIVES HELPING HANDS HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Dr. Oleh Antonyshyn is the 2017 recipient of the Ochrymovych Humanitarian Award, also known as the “Helping Hands” Award from Ukrainian Canadian Social Services – Toronto (UCSS-T). Dr. Antonyshyn was presented with the award at a gala banquet in his honour on April 30, 2017 at the Old Mill. Victor Malarek, an award-winning journalist, who was the first recipient of the award in 2010 was a guest speaker.
Dr. Antonyshyn, an internationally renowned plastic surgeon, is being recognized for his extraordinary humanitarian efforts in providing medical care and treatment to those ravaged by war in eastern Ukraine. He has led four successful medical missions to Ukraine to operate on people who have been burned and disfigured by injuries received in the war currently being waged there. His team of physicians, nurses and medical professionals from Canada has brought hope and the prospect of a brighter future to hundreds of victims, including children, whose lives were devastated by the war in Ukraine. Dr. Antonyshyn led a fifth medical mission to Ukraine on February 24, 2017. He stated, “ We support those that are most severely and profoundly affected by the war.”
Dr. Antonyshyn, Head of Craniofacial Surgery, Plastic surgery Department at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center is also an affiliate scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute and an associate professor in the Department of Surgery, Plastic Surgery Division at the University of Toronto.
The Ochrymovych Humanitarian Award is presented every two years to an individual who seeks to advance the wellbeing of humanity through volunteer work, advocacy, leadership and/or philanthropy in Canada or abroad. The award is named after Markian Ochrymowych, a social worker and a dedicated humanitarian who worked tirelessly to help people in need.
Ukrainian Canadian Social Services-Toronto is a charitable, non-profit organization that has been providing social programs and services to the elderly, immigrants, families and youth in the GTA since 1953.
