The people from the village of Nikola Kozlevo near Shumen count themselves lucky because there is one door they can knock on, day and night, to seek relief from their pain. With a smile and a kind word, they are welcomed by the doctor who endeavours to relieve their physical pain but also their mental anguish.

Dr. Evgeniy Kara, born and raised in Cahul, Moldova, came to Bulgaria in 1996, and here, he found everything – a home, education, a family…. and the happiness he sees in the eyes of his patients.

“At home we were always hearing Bulgarian spoken,” he says. “We would get together with our relatives – Bessarabian Bulgarians, for weddings, for parties, to honour tradition. And as it was my dream – and even more so my parents’– that I should become a doctor, I left, under a government programme, after I graduated from secondary school as a paramedic.”

He then went on to graduate from the Medical University in Pleven, and a Bessarabian Bulgarian he was at university with invited him to the village of Harsovo not far from Shumen, where his father was a veterinary doctor. And it turned out that in the nearby village of Nikola Harsevo there was a medical practice vacancy, and as Evgeniy Kara says: With kindness, with good things, 20 years have passed.

The doctor’s patients say if it weren’t for him, many would be left without healthcare, medicines or first aid. And he tries to help as many as he can and never turns anyone away – even on his days off. So, he has people coming to his surgery from Burgas, Gorna Oryahovitsa, Isperih, Dobrich, Shumen, General Kolevo, Varna… from an area covering half of Bulgaria. “They all know me in these parts – I even have people coming from Sofia. Especially during the pandemic I had a lot of patients coming from the capital,” says Dr. Evgeniy Kara.

And even though he is a general practitioner, he also takes an interest in psychiatry:

“Psychosomatic symptoms make up 70% of our practice. Even today, I had 6-7 patients who need this kind of treatment. We live in a stressful world and an explosion of information reaches us from the radio, TV, the internet, and not all of it is true. Unfortunately, no one can control this information, and when people read and reach erroneous conclusions, they can start to self-medicate. That is why the first thing I say to my patients is: Do not read up on the internet, don’t go telling grandmas and grandpas, or your neighbours what’s ailing you, come and see me. And I am glad to say people trust me, they come often and ask me things. When there is trust between patient and doctor, things go well and there is a 99 percent chance of success – 100% is only in God’s hands.”

Dr. Evgeniy Kara says sports are his way of handling the strain. And sometimes he says to his patients: I’m sorry I have a personal engagement – two hours of fitness is my way to relax. Motorbikes are his other passion – from time to time he rides to “lakes and seas” together with the “guys”. But when asked if he has ever been able to take a fortnight off, he says the longest time he has had to himself in his 20 years of practice is – 3 days.

Dr. Evgeniy Kara says he is a lucky man – surrounded with the love of his patients, his friends and his family:

“I have a wonderful family,” he says in an interview with Hristina Dimitrova from the BNR’s Radio Shumen. “My daughter Anastasia is getting ready to be a doctor one day, and my little girl, who is 4, is my pride and joy. My wife, also a Bessarabian Bulgarian from Moldova, is a qualified pharmacist. We have now set up a pharmacy for her – until recently she was on maternity leave. And so, we go on – living, working, evolving.”

“Bulgaria accepted me, I am grateful from the depths of my soul,” the doctor says and goes on to say what pains him in this country:

“When I hear a young person is leaving I try to dissuade them. It pains me, but when they come back I am really glad,” he says. And he greets them with the words: Welcome home!

Interview by Hristina Dimitrova, Radio Shumen-BNR

Text by Diana Tsankova

Translated and posted by Milena Daynova

Photos: Radio Shumen, medical centre-Nikola Kozlevo municipality, zdrave-bg.com