On February 24, Anton (the name has been changed) received a call from his wife from work: explosions were heard in Pavlograd, the woman was seriously frightened. Turning on the TV, the man understood everything … They remained in their hometown and, at each declared alarm, fled with the children to the basement (the youngest son is still very afraid of the sound of sirens). After 10 days, Anton realized that he had to leave.

First they moved to the Dnipro, in the hope that it would be safer there. They were placed in a hostel. And five days later, a rocket flew into a neighboring building. On the floor where Anton’s family’s room was, the windows were shattered by the shock wave, the plaster was crumbling. On the same day they left the Dnipro and drove towards the west. They stopped in Morshyn. In the neighboring city of Stryi, Anton found the substitution therapy program, received medicines for 20 days, and began to look for a job. But the sound of the sirens outside the window did not subside, and here the children did not calm down.

“My wife saw that volunteers were taking those who wanted to Germany – so we ended up in Leipzig.” – says Anton. “We were settled in a refugee camp, then moved to Mannheim. So three weeks passed. The therapy were running out and I started looking for an opportunity to join the program. On Facebook, I came across recommendations from one of the followers in the substitution therapy group. He shared HelpNow contacts. So I “knocked” to you.”

After Anton wrote to the service, his request was quickly accepted into work. A consultant from the HelpNow Germany hub contacted him, and the next day the man was already at the doctor’s office.

“We picked up the dosage very quickly. By the way, methadone in Germany is in the form of syrup, and stronger, as the doctor says. The attitude is good: we learn to understand each other even without translators, basic English helps, and most importantly, the responsiveness of the staff – they try very hard to help. And it works!”