We first found out about Andriy on the Volunteer Hundred web-page, and later we met this nice guy in person. He was so shy, you would never think he was a real cyborg!
He served at the Pisky village close to the Donetsk Airport, and, since December 26, at the Airport itself, where he spent almost three weeks. «We celebrated the New Year’s eve there, with fireworks – first the separatists were shooting at us, after that we were shooting at them! After the fight, we did celebrate the New Years properly, with salads and Champaign», he laughs. But Andriy is reluctant to talk about the war, he says “no one should know and see what we have seen”.
On January 25, in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk region, Andriy got shot in the stomach, only one day before he was supposed to leave for a rotation break. The bullet went through internal organs and damaged his spine. Diagnosis: a gunshot wound of the left pleural half of hemo-pneumothorax, with damage to the stomach and colon, and a through diametrically wound spine canal. He was operated on in Kostyantynivka.
In a Kharkiv hospital, they extracted the bullet. On February 3, 2015, he underwent a super-complex operation in a Vinnytsia hospital. After this kind of operations, people are supposed to lie down horizontally for four months. Thanks to Andriy’s will power, he was able to sit in his wheelchair in 1.5 months. He still can’t walk and does not feel his legs, and is undergoing rehabilitation in Lviv’s Military Hospital. Andriy’s parents are not well-off, and the volunteers are taking care of his financial needs.
Andriy is hoping to get a treatment abroad and finally be able to walk again. He loves children and wants to start a family of his own. His further rehabilitation new depends on funding only. We need to unite to pursue the goal of putting Andriy on his feet.
To contribute toward Olexander's treatments and therapies, please visit your branch or contact the call centre at 1.800.461.0777 to make a donation.
Questions and inquiries about this initative can be directed to the UCU Helps Ukraine committee:
Kateryna Litvinjuk klitvinjuk@ukrainiancu.com
Michael Zienchuk mzienchuk@ukrainiancu.com
Roman Mlynko rmlynko@ukrainiancu.com
Lots of photos of the injured soldiers we are helping can be found on our Facebook page in the album UCU Helps Ukraine.
Read the stories of some of our other heroes:
Mykhaylo, Serhiy K., Olexander, Victor, Serhiy, Olexander, Andriy, Anton, Oleksij, Yevhen, Yurij, Serhij, and Ruslan.
Kateryna Litvinjuk klitvinjuk@ukrainiancu.com
Michael Zienchuk mzienchuk@ukrainiancu.com
Roman Mlynko rmlynko@ukrainiancu.com
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