Thursday, October 1, 2026
Leonid Los remembers exactly when the bombing started in Ukraine. He was in a hospital, recovering from an accident that cost him two of his toes.
He was living in Bronyky, a small village in Ukraine, caring for his elderly mother. He fell asleep one day with his feet on a chimney. A diabetic with neuropathy, he didn’t feel what was happening. The toes were amputated on Feb. 14.
Ten days later, Russia invaded, and Los heard the bombs fall.
Despite his injuries, Los, 59, managed to escape Ukraine and make it to the U.S., where he has family in Freeport. A nurse practitioner, he managed, while traveling west through Europe, to change the dressing on his bandaged foot and even administer his own shots.
He wound up at Mount Sinai South Nassau Hospital in Oceanside, before being moved to the Park Avenue Extended Care Facility in Long Beach on April 20. Earlier this week, Los spoke with the Herald through a translator at the Park Avenue facility, where he is being treated free of charge.
The memories of what happened in his home country are still fresh. When the bombing began, Los and others at the local hospital were instructed to go into the basement, where there were bunks for sleeping. He didn’t return to his home until March 1. After that, he continued to see a doctor at the hospital once a week.
On March 24, the United States said it would accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Los, whose wife, daughter, son, daughter-in-law and two grandsons are now here, decided it was time to leave.
His daughter, Svitlana Gargano, 32, recalled opening her Instagram account one night and seeing a post that a bomb had exploded near where her brother, Valerii, was living. She called him eight times, knowing that he normally slept around that time. He finally answered.
“The war has started, and you need to leave right now,” she told him.
Her brother had a suitcase ready in the car, but always said, “It’s never going to happen.”
Valerii’s wife and son were already at his mother’s house, but he had to drive to Kyiv to get money to take care of his family. The normal two-hour drive to and from Kyiv took six hours, Gargano said.
“I remember I couldn’t stop shaking, because I was afraid they would start bombing the roads while he was driving,” she said through tears. “I told him to call me every 30 minutes so I knew he was alive.”
Los’s wife, daughter-in-law and grandson left the country before Los and his son, who traveled to Warsaw, Poland, and spent a week there. Then they made their way to Germany; Spain; Tijuana, Mexico; and San Diego before flying into New York. The trip took five days.
“I can’t believe myself that I made that trip in five days,” Los said. “It was very difficult.”
Throughout it, he said, his leg was swollen, and he wouldn’t take his pants off because “there was a lot of fluid accumulating, and it was difficult to change the dressings” on his amputated toes. But he pushed through. “Thank God I am alive,” he said.
Gargano, who has been living in Freeport for the past couple of years, said her father “saw half the world” on his trip.
Father and daughter reunited in Freeport, six years after they last saw each other, on April 4. Los also reunited with his wife, daughter-in-law and grandson.
While he and his family are grateful they are here today, they miss their home. “My heart is with Ukraine,” Los said. “But I will be where my family is.”
“He’s doing really well, and he’s so motivated to get himself better,” said Vicky Shaw, the Park Avenue Extended Care Facility’s administrator. “He’s walking independently. He’s on IV medication that should be done in seven to 10 days, and then he’ll be back with his family. That’s all he wants.”
When Los arrived at the facility from South Nassau, he was treated to a special welcoming, with Ukrainian flags and signs. He said he was “very appreciative of the welcome.”
What does he want to do once he’s able to leave the facility? He wants to “learn the language,” he said, “get a job, and play football.”
