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Chernobyl Liquidator's Health Crisis 40 Years On
21 Apr
Summary
- Liquidator Petro Hurin suffers lasting health issues decades after Chernobyl cleanup.
- He recalls his 12-hour shifts loading radioactive concrete around the reactor.
- Hurin now campaigns for disability pensions while mourning his soldier grandson.
Petro Hurin, a "liquidator" at Chernobyl, continues to face severe health problems forty years after the 1986 nuclear disaster. Mobilized to clear the site, he describes the intense dust and his rapid decline, experiencing symptoms like headaches and bleeding within days. Soviet doctors reportedly diagnosed him with stress-related ailments, forbidding a diagnosis of radiation sickness.
Working grueling 12-hour shifts, Hurin operated excavators to load concrete and lead around the damaged reactor. He recalls that out of forty people from his firm dispatched to the site, only five are still alive today. He now advocates for a special disability pension for Chernobyl liquidators.
Hurin's life has been further shadowed by Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He and his wife Olha mourn their grandson, Andrii Vorobkalo, a soldier who died defending Ukraine three years ago at age 26. They had raised Andrii from a young age.
Despite his ongoing health battles, including anemia and pancreatitis, Hurin finds solace in music and poetry. He lives in Ukraine's central Cherkasy region, a testament to the enduring impact of both the Chernobyl disaster and the current conflict.
