John Byrnes, PA '79
When John Byrnes, PA ’79, married in Ukraine in 2007, he and his bride drove through her homeland, exploring restaurants and shops along the eastern front and taking in the scenery.
Upon returning to the country in September, he was greeted with bombed-out roads, air raid sirens, destroyed homes and stores, villages with no electricity, and hospitals in need of supplies to care for those sick and injured during the Russia-Ukraine war.
As part of a group providing humanitarian aid, Byrnes spent five days delivering 3,000 pounds of medical equipment to military and civilian hospitals in his wife’s hometown of Berdychiv in central Ukraine, 440 miles from the Polish border.
Alongside three volunteers with the Military and Hospitaller Order of Saint Lazarus of Jerusalem, Byrnes flew to Germany to pick up supplies, drove 15 hours through Germany and Poland, and endured a five-hour border crossing into Ukraine with the help of a translator.
The group — who experienced air raids throughout their time in Ukraine — stopped to volunteer at a soup kitchen and continued their journey to bring items such as pulley systems, weights, electrotherapy units, portable laminar air flow units, and surgical equipment to medical staff treating soldiers and civilians with amputations, upper-extremity injuries, muscle injuries, and more.
The Order of St. Lazarus team delivers equipment to a military and civilian hospital in Berdychiv, Ukraine.
Photo: Photos courtesy of John Byrnes
“My wife put me in touch with a military hospital where she’s from, where there were amputees but no rehabilitation hospitals or equipment to get people up on their prosthetics,” said Byrnes, who will return to Ukraine this summer to deliver more medical supplies. “We were the first humanitarian aid group to go to these hospitals. Many go to larger facilities, but this hospital had a need. It’s the least we could do.”
This sentiment has permeated throughout Byrnes’ 40-year career. A surgical physician assistant, Byrnes has traveled the globe to provide medical care and training in India, Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan. He has visited Ukraine about 30 times, from meeting his wife on a medical mission trip to visiting loved ones.
Closer to home, Byrnes serves as the founder and managing director of Southeastern Clinical Services, a private group of surgical PAs who assist with about 900 cases every month in hospitals across Central Florida. True to his service-minded ethos, he organizes a biannual event with students from area PA programs to provide 1,000 physical exams for underprivileged families.
“Compassion was certainly one of the hallmarks of UF’s PA training,” said Byrnes, who also serves on the faculty of Florida State University’s PA program in Orlando. “My advice to students is to share your talents and give back to the community.”