"Today I’m taking over David Beckham’s Instagram"
<p dir="ltr">Footballer David Beckham has handed over his Instagram to a Ukrainian nurse to share the realities of the war.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Beckham, who has been a Unicef ambassador since 2005, shared a <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CbUlU7ioSNM/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video message</a> and asked his fans and followers to donate to help.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Today I’m handing over my social channels to Iryna, the Head of the Regional Perinatal Centre in Kharkiv, Ukraine where she is helping mothers give birth,” he said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Please give what you can to support @UNICEF and people like Iryna using the donation link in my bio.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">His story then showed a series of videos and images from nurse Iryna who showed how doctors and nurses worked during war.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Hello my name is Iryna, today i’m taking over David Beckham’s Instagram. In peacetime, I am the head of Kharkiv’s regional perinatal centre and a child anesthesiologist,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Today I'm going to show you how we work in times of war and who we have become during these war days.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Iryna shared harrowing images of basements, where expectant mothers, new mothers, and their babies were hidden to be safe from any shelling.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“On the first day of the war, all pregnant women and mothers were evacuated to the basement. It was a terrible three hours we spent together,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Unfortunately, we can’t take babies who are in intensive care to the basement, because they rely on life-saving equipment.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The first days were the most difficult. We had to learn how to work with bombings and strikes.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Iryna confessed that since the war began on February 24, she had to work 24/7 and offers emotional support to all those around her.</p>
<p dir="ltr">She then shared an image of a woman and her newborn son who was born with breathing problems, but is “better now”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“This is Yana and her baby son Mykhailo. On the second day of war, he was born with breathing problems. He is better now,” she said.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“But his family’s house was destroyed and they can’t go back.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">She urged Beckham's followers to continue donating to Unicef as their supplies have assisted greatly during the war zone.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Unicef has been delivering supplies in Ukraine for years and they have good logistics to deliver ready-to-use kits to maternity hospitals,” she explained.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The oxygen generators we received from Unicef help provide oxygen for children in the basement.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“We are probably risking our lives, but we don’t think about it at all. We love our work.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Doctors and nurses here, we worry, we cry but none of us will give up.”</p>
<p>Iryna thanked the “whole world” for their support and those who had donated to Unicef to help the Ukrainian children.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Thank you to everyone who watched my story, to everyone who is helping the Ukrainian children today.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Every donation and every single one of you who donated matters to us. Huge thank you to the whole world for the support.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>
