Elkhart councilman gets ready to provide medical relief in Ukraine

ELKHART, Ind. (WNDU) - People know Aaron Mishler as the first district councilman in Elkhart, but fewer people may know he is also a registered nurse.

Mishler has provided assistance in a dozen volunteer missions, and now, he’s getting ready to head to Ukraine to do it again.

“First I want to say that this is not a political thing at all, this is just trying to help folks in need,” Mishler says.

From an early age Mishler told 16 News Now, he knew he wanted to serve.

“You know, I served in the Indiana army national guard and the army reserves as a medic and when I wanted to get out, I wanted to continue to serve,” Mishler says.

And he’s done just that, from spending 6 months in Liberia as an Ebola nurse, to providing assistance in locations like Haiti and Puerto Rico.

Now, he’s heading to Ukraine.

“A lot of the doctors either fled or maybe they’re helping with the war efforts, so you have many folks who haven’t seen a provider in weeks or months even or almost a year now for some people, and those are folks who have chronic conditions, heart disease, diabetes, who need medication and we’ll be over there trying to help them out,” Mishler says.

From February 7th to the 24th, Mishler and the organization the Global Care Force will be travelling throughout the country.

“Providing free clinics throughout the nation,” says Mishler.

When asked if he had any concerns about heading to a war zone, Mishler said, of course, but that the gratitude he feels from being able to serve people, as well as setting a good example for his daughter, keeps him going.

“It’s when you have mothers who walk their child, sometimes carry their child for miles they leave early in the morning to get to your clinic because they know that that’s the only place for their child to get care... and just the gratitude of being able to serve those communities, keeps bringing me back,’ Mishler says.

For more information on the volunteer mission and the Global Care Force, click here.

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