‘Dancing nurse’ is heading to Ukraine to offer medical aid

Ana Wilkinson is a San Diego-area nurse who volunteered her medical services in New York City at the beginning of the pandemic, then went viral when she posted upbeat dancing videos along with inside looks at medical professionals working in the epicenter.

Now, two years later and she’s continuing her medical efforts by traveling to Ukraine.

She and her firefighter husband have traveled on multiple medical missions throughout the last 13 years, and she’s been prioritizing these missions for the last two years. She originally spent seven weeks in New York in 2020, plus spent two months in India during the summer of 2021, and also went on four separate trips to Texas.

While she’s prioritized COVID-19 relief throughout the last two years, she’s now shifting to where help is needed now.

“I’m actually going to the border of Poland and Ukraine and three to four times a week I’ll be going into Ukraine and dropping off medical supplies, helping the hospitals and also taking patients out that are unable to walk,” she said.

She said she knows it will be different than the help she’s given in the past, but is ready for the challenge.

“I’ve seen a lot of things, but I haven’t seen war. My husband was prepping me and saying this is completely different. You’re going to see children that you know your heart is going to melt… whew… and you’re going to see things you’ve never seen before,” she said.

Her goal is not only to provide medical help but also spread positivity, as she always does.

“I feel that if I can just bring a smile to anybody and give them hope, that’ll go a lot further,” she said.

She’s bringing bags full of medical supplies. She purchased many of it on her own, plus has had items donated from local hospitals.

Wilkinson will be traveling with the group Global Disaster Relief Team. She said if anyone has medical supplies they can donate, they can find her on Instagram to coordinate.

By Leah Pezzetti, KGTV.