For the last three years, Naperville native and North Central College alumna Rima Ziuraitis has been living in Ukraine, working as a humanitarian and, more recently, as a combat medic in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The 38–year–old Lithuanian-American quit her job in finance in 2022 and traded her 9-to-5 for 48-hour shifts on the front lines amid the nation’s war with Russia.
On Wednesday, May 6, she will be recognized by the American Red Cross of Greater Chicago as its Global Citizenship Hero during the organization’s 24th Annual Heroes Breakfast. The event celebrates those who “exemplify the values of the Red Cross,” the organization said in a press release.
“It still hasn’t really registered that this is happening, but here we are…I am extremely grateful,” said Ziuraitis.
Naperville native fills critical need in Ukraine
A long-time advocate for Ukraine, Ziuraitis first visited the country in 2022 to provide non-lethal military aid with the nonprofit Blue/Yellow USA, for which she served as managing director.
While there, she noticed a shortage of medics and decided to stay long-term to help fill the gap. She began combat medic training and eventually worked her way up to the highest level of certification.
“For about a year, I was training. I became certified as an instructor because we don’t have that many English language instructors in Ukraine, and I did tactical medical instructing for eight months before I was recruited into the med team of the Foreign Legion fifth squadron,” she said.
She currently works at stabilization stations providing emergency care to wounded people and at a military hospital, while also teaching others basic life-saving skills.
“Me teaching one person to save a life means that they can teach two or four other people, or they can save someone for real on the battlefield,” she said.
Ziuraitis’ military work discussion at North Central College
During a rare trip back to the U.S., she spoke at the Special Operations Medical Association conference in North Carolina and stopped by her alma mater in Naperville on Monday for a discussion on the nature of war and her role as a medic.
According to Ziuraitis, while a common misconception is that the war has slowed down, the reality on the ground is very different.
“Every night, there is some sort of city civilian area that is bombed, and it’s not just in the frontline areas, it’s western Ukraine. Kyiv gets bombed once a week. They are now starting to target trains,” she said.
The war has also become personal for her as she has had to watch friends die, she said, something that fuels her to continue her work in Ukraine.
“No matter what, the people that we lose would want us to continue because they believed in their convictions that what we are doing is the right thing,” said Ziuraitis.
She encouraged people to use their resources to educate themselves on the war in order to better understand the suffering of Ukrainians.
Red Cross celebrates Ziuraitis
In a press release, the Red Cross praised Ziuraitis, saying, “Through her work, Ziuraitis demonstrates a strong commitment to humanitarian service and the impact individuals can make in supporting others during times of crisis.”
Ziuraitis and 14 others across different categories will be celebrated as the Red Cross’ 2026 Class of Heroes at Wednesday’s event at the Hilton Chicago.
Then, she’ll head back to Ukraine later this month to continue her humanitarian efforts.
“The war isn’t over yet, so neither is the mission,” she said.
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