Former football legend David Beckham has handed over control of his Instagram account to a Ukrainian doctor working in Kharkiv to create awareness of Ukraine’s second-largest city conditions.
David Beckham has currently 71.6 million Instagram followers, said he wanted to highlight the “amazing work” of medical staff operating during the Russian invasion.
Meanwhile, the head of the regional perinatal centre and a child anaesthesiologist, Iryna, posted clips and images to Beckham’s Stories throughout Sunday, showing the reality of the conflict for those working on the frontline.
She said, “Today, I am going to show you how we work in times of war and who we have become during these war days.”
Iryna has shared video footage showing a basement where pregnant women and new mothers were evacuated to during the first days of the invasion, an intensive care unit where babies are being treated and oxygen generators donated by UNICEF.
Iryna said she now works “24/7” & that, “We are probably risking our lives, but we don’t think about it at all. We love our work.”
She also posted about a woman named Yana and her baby son Mykhailo, who was on the second day of the war with breathing problems and who family home was destroyed during the fighting.
She stated that the child was “better now.”
The former Manchester United player has been an ambassador for the children’s charity UNICEF since 2005.
In one of a video shared to David Beckham’s Instagram page, he encouraged to donate to the charity working in Ukraine to provide access to clean water and food and provide child protection services.
He said, “Thanks to your donations, the oxygen generators they have received are helping newborns survive in appalling conditions.”