Doctors play a critical role in communities for saving lives, but their impact undeniably surpasses that. In a small town along the border of Ukraine and Russia, Dr. Danny Spencer is more than just a doctor; he is a glimmer of hope among the war-torn community.
For the past 25 years, Dr. Spencer has been practicing emergency medicine. Before completing his residency at the University of New Mexico, he attended Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine, where he discovered his passion to help people. “I just love emergency medicine,” he said. “It’s really satisfying to figure out what’s going on when patients come in and to treat them and see them get better quickly.”
After his residency, he went on to work for Logan Regional Hospital, then moved back to Pocatello where he grew up, and now is a part-owner of Ridgeline Medical in Idaho Falls.
In recent years, Dr. Spencer has expanded his passion for helping others by traveling across borders to Ukraine to provide the war-ravaged communities with medical aid.
He was inspired by his cousin, who, on an LDS mission at the time the war began, traveled to the border of Ukraine and Poland to help the Ukrainians cross the border and to help supply food, clothing and shelter for them.
“He continued to go over there about every three months to help, and he invited me to come on a trip.”
His first trip across borders was what can only be described as an eye-opening experience. After crossing the border into Ukraine, he often didn’t realize he was in a war zone. Looking around, he saw kids playing soccer and playing in the streets, then he would stumble upon barricades and military tanks in the streets.
“I feel mostly gratitude for the freedom we have and for the peace we have here,” he said. “Then, of course sadness as you see the conditions they live in, followed by an overwhelming sense of satisfaction and knowing that you're making a big difference.”
Before the trip, Dr. Spencer and his cousin held a local fundraiser to raise money to buy basic necessities for the refugees staying in refugee centers. For those who didn’t have the means to buy their own food, clothing or school supplies, Dr. Spencer and his cousin were like heroes to them or angels, as one lady said.
“One lady said, ‘You know, with the war and everything, it’s been really hard to believe in God anymore 'cause of all the suffering and the pain.’ She had lost her husband fighting in the war, and she had a five-year-old child that was stressed out and losing her hair. Had bald spots everywhere,” he said. “And then she said, ‘Just yesterday we were out of toilet paper, milk, bread, butter, everything, and I prayed that some angels would come help us out. Then you guys showed up the next day with all these supplies.’”
Her words were so touching to him that the following year, he took two more trips to Ukraine in April and November of 2024. The second and third trips are what he describes as a medical mission, where he was a part of Ukraine’s Christian Medical Mobile Clinic.
Since the war-torn communities don't have access to health care, Dr. Spencer brings with him a great quantity of medicine provided by Mike’s Pharmacy. The towns that Russia invaded and left destroyed left many of its members without shelter and, more destructively, without access to life-saving medications.
“A lot of them have gone a year or more without any of their blood pressure medicine or diabetes medicine,” Dr. Spencer said. “Just being able to provide ibuprofen and tylenol is amazing, and for them, it’s like a miracle.”
Looking ahead, Dr. Spencer plans to return to Ukraine to continue to help where he can. “To be a part of a miracle is truly amazing.”