“Going back to walking on his own two feet”: story of veteran who spent year on treatment abroad – photo

Volodymyr is one of the war veterans who was brought back to "peaceful" life by his injury. The man suffered open fractures of both legs in combat. Source: The Ministry of Health said that Volodymyr's evacuation lasted almost an entire day, as the military positions were located on the river.

Volodymyr said that he and his brothers-in-arms came under Russian fire, and shrapnel hit them when a mine hit a tree. In total, three soldiers had been wounded.

During the evacuation, Volodymyr was first carried for two kilometres by his brothers-in-arms. Then it was a three-hour drive to a hospital in Kramatorsk.

Volodymyr, the veteran, who suffered open fractures of both legs in combat.Photo: The Ministry of Health

"In Kramatorsk, they provided me with first aid and then transported me to Dnipro.

There I underwent surgery and was transported to Lviv. I needed two joints changed, but they could not put ordinary joints because of the proximity of the injury to the bone, so they needed individual ones developed specifically for my legs. No one does this in Ukraine," says Volodymyr.

Volodymyr was treated in a hospital in Budapest under a MedEvac programme to treat Ukrainians in European clinics. The Ministry of Health said that Hungarian doctors performed three major surgeries on Volodymyr during the year:

removal of external fixation devices from his legs;
plate installation in his leg;
replacement of joints.

"Volodymyr has recently come home and is gradually beginning to walk on his own two legs again, step by step," the ministry added. The MedEvac programme was launched in Ukraine in 2022 as part of the Ministry of Health's cooperation with the European Commission.

Apply to participate in the project on the website of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

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