History of Alla Levushkina

There are people who are incredibly inspiring. What they do for others, by sacrificing themselves, is admirable. And one of them was Al-Adha. Russia's oldest surgeon. This fragile body, but strong spirit woman in may turned 92 years old, and she is still not going to give up surgery and intends to continue to help people.





Editorial "Site" He thinks we need to talk about these people, so we're going to share with you the story of this incredible woman.

Work in air ambulance, landing surrounded by wolves, the way to work on horseback, thousands of operations and saved lives - all this was in the life of Alla Levushkina and we will tell you about all this. But let's go straight.

Levushkina did not always dream of becoming a surgeon, as a child she was more interested in geology. Alla Ilyinichna recalls: My father was a forester, I spent a lot of time in hiking. Loved nature, animals, flowers. I wanted to search for and evaluate minerals, explore new territories.” And then the girl got into the hands of Veresayev’s book “Notes of a Doctor”, after which her passion for medicine began.





After graduating from school, Alla went to enter Moscow. That's just from the go it turned out that the capital's institute takes only with a Moscow residence permit. After that, she went to Dnepropetrovsk, but even there no one was waiting for a nonresident girl. Home, in Ryazan, returned on the bandwagon of the train, because there was no money for the ticket.

In order not to lose a year, Alla entered the Ryazan Pedagogical Institute at the natural faculty. In the same group with her studied Vera, a girl from Moscow, who, as it turned out, also dreamed of becoming a doctor. Vera lived in the Levushkin family all year, and the next year Vera’s parents registered Alla in their Moscow apartment. The way to the institute was open.





The competition was extraordinary, there were many candidates. Behind his back, he heard: “And the “village” that forgot here?”, but Alla was still that tin soldier, she can not understand. The girl coped with the entrance exams, scored the necessary points and got into the list of students. But her friend did not have enough points for admission, so she entered the Saratov Medical Institute.

It was awkward to return to Vera’s house after that. Levushkina recalls: “How was it after that to return to the house of Ponomarev?” I spent the night at the station. Once in the waiting room met a friend of her mother, who, having pity, invited to live with her. And she herself had only a small room.” So Alla and huddled in the corner until she knocked out a room in the hostel.





It is not that the students were easy: the war was only over, they lived hand-to-hand, food was often not enough. Alla Ilyinichna remembers how they lived in the fold in the hostel, how they changed the alcohol issued on coupons for bread.

Already in our third year, Alla Levushkina began to attend a circle on surgery, which was led by academician Boris Petrovsky, the future Minister of Health of the USSR. Alla Ilyinichna has the most pleasant memories of Academician Petrovsky. Boris Vasilyevich perfectly understood how poor the students lived, so he often paid for his students in the tram, and sometimes even fed them cakes.

Alla Ilyinichna says: I remember, gathered with students, everyone wanted to help the legendary surgeon. I'm standing - small, albeit with heels, but then high heels were not yet worn. I've got a cap, I can't see a single hair, and a robe with rolled up sleeves. He looked at our company and said: “Today you will assist me!” They brought me a stand, and I got to the operating table.

At that breast cancer surgery, I was the second assistant, the first student assistant was not. The blood splashed in my face, and Academician Petrovsky jokingly said: Well, I baptized you as a surgeon. There is no turning back now”. This is not forgotten”.





And when it came time to choose a specialty, Alla Levushkina no longer doubted: the only one of her group she chose surgery. She was left to work in Moscow, but the girl refused and went to work in distant Tuva with her friend Olga Kokorina. As Alla Ilyinichna herself says, we went there because they were stupid. She says, “We thought the harder the better. Olya wanted to go to the Altai, and I – to the Far East, came to the map, saw that in the middle is Tuva, there and went.

Tuva is a real outback. Mountain ranges are replaced by an endless steppe, around only nature and animals. There were no roads or railways, of course. So the girls went to work on horseback. But the woman remembers this time with warmth, because in Tuva her first independent operation took place.





After the residency, the girl returned to work in Ryazan, in the regional hospital named after Semashko, at the same time Alla worked in air ambulance. Doctors flew to the most difficult cases and rescued patients in emergency conditions. They paid little, but Alla Ilyinichna herself says that it was a good experience, because they operated on the field, in the rain, in the stables. This is an invaluable experience.

The woman recalls, "I flew a lot." Once the pilot circled for a long time, did not sit down. Says, "There are wolves out there." They will eat you, Doctor. And I'm like, So what? Sit down. Wolves, I think, are very nice animals. I always feel sorry for them - they are killed for nothing. Sit down, the car pulled right up to the plane, I quickly jumped into it.”





After 10 years of work, it’s time to climb a new height. Everything changed the ticket to proctology courses, which bypassed the whole area, but remained unattended. The specialty was considered unprestigious. In the Ryazan region, there is no proctologist, but there are many patients. When she found out about the trip, she knew she had to go.

After four months of study, in 1961, Alla Levushkina became the only proctologist in the region and began to conduct operations. She took on seemingly inoperable cases, coped with advanced diseases associated with tumors.

The woman had a hard time. Judge for yourself how a small and fragile young woman 152 centimeters tall was perceived. But this did not prevent her from achieving success, because fragility was compensated by a sharp look and a firm hand. Now Levushkina is appreciated and respected by everyone, young doctors go to her for advice, and it is a great honor to study with her.

For young surgeons, it's -- queen. Few people can boast of 68 years of experience and 10 thousand operations. In 2014, Alla Levushkina Ball was awarded an award in the nomination “For loyalty to the profession”. It came as a surprise to the woman. She doesn't really like all that attention, says, distracts. Now the doctor is 92, but Alla Ilyinichna does not think about retirement. She is in the clinic and still operates.





Her day is scheduled by minute and she is only happy about it. The answer to all questions about fatigue and age is one: I am like a racehorse: I go to the hospital, barely drag my legs, but as soon as I enter the operating room, I immediately transform myself, I get a charge of energy. I never get tired during the operation.”

People like Alla Ilyinichna deserve respect and admiration. Through her dedication, she saves lives and helps people. We wish the entire editorial staff a long life, as well as strength and inspiration in her difficult work!

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