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Channahon resident using his EMT training 3 feet from Ukraine border

Ryan Chocholek: ‘I quit my job to come here because this is where people needed help.’

By Denise M. Baran-Unland
Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, left for Poland on March 8. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border.

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, left for Poland on March 8. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. (Photo provided)

In February 2021, Ryan Chocholek of Channahon won a $50 gift card and sweatshirt for co-winning the Biggest Loser competition Fitness Premier in Minooka.

On Monday, Chocholek said he was three feet from Ukraine border “helping the refugees right as they cross.”

Neither Nick Haase, assistant manager at Premier Fitness nor Josh Biba, manager/operator, at Premier Fitness, were surprised that Chocholek, a two-year member of the fitness club, has gone to Poland.

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, (front and center) left for Poland on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border.

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, (front and center) left for Poland on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. (Photo provided)

Biba said Chocholek is “a good guy” and Haase agreed.

“Whenever someone is going through a difficult time, he goes out of his way to help them,” Haase said.

Chocholek, 25, said he left for Poland on March 8. He previously worked as a traveling emergency medical technician for the Federal Emergency Management Agency as an independent contractor, he said.

“I quit my job to come here because this is where people needed help,” Chocholek said in a private Facebook message. “A lot of people can watch these atrocities on CNN or Fox News and go back to eating their meals peacefully, but I cannot. So I booked a plane ticket over here and figured it out as I went.”

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, (front and center) left for Poland on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. He is pictured with his siblings (from left): Gianna Danno, Megan Chocholek and Giovanni Danno The family dog's name is June.

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, (front and center) left for Poland on Tuesday, March 8, 2022. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. He is pictured with his siblings (from left): Gianna Danno, Megan Chocholek and Giovanni Danno The family dog's name is June. (Photo provided)

Chocholek said he is running a medical tent near the Ukrainian border and bringing medical equipment over the border into Ukraine. The tent was already set up; he jumped in when the previous staff left.

He has no money because he quit his job, so he’s staying in the tent, assisting refugees and people who are injured, he said.

Chocholek said he’s seeing a range of injuries.

“We are out here treating everything from headaches and nausea to gunshots and burns,” Chocholek said.

Chocolek’s mother, Liza Danno of Channahon, said her son announced his intentions to help about two weeks ago. She’s both proud and afraid for him.

“At first I thought he was messing around,” Danno said. “But I got a photo of him in Poland, so he wasn’t kidding.”

Danno said Chocholek always talked about serving in the military, which he did. Danno said Chocholek went into the Army shortly after he graduated from Minooka High School and was deployed to Afghanistan twice, she said.

“When he was in, he took medic training,” Danno said. “It snowballed from there.”

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, left for Poland on March 8. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. He is also a graduate of the Romeoville Fire Academy.

Ryan Chocholek, 25, of Channahon, left for Poland on March 8. He is using his emergency medical technician training to run a medical tent near the Ukraine border. He is also a graduate of the Romeoville Fire Academy. (Photo provided)

Chocholek said he was honorably discharged from the Army three days before he left for Poland. His active duty ended November 2020. In February 2021, he enrolled in the Romeoville Fire Academy, he said.

He shrugged off any praise for his current work in Poland.

“In my eyes I don’t think it’s bravery as opposed to just doing the right thing,” Chocholek said.