Posted on Feb 7, 2023
Ukrainian soldiers benefit from U.S. prosthetics expertise but their war is different
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https://www.npr.org/2023/02/07/ [login to see] /ukrainian-soldiers-benefit-from-u-s-prosthetics-expertise-but-their-war-is-diffe
Oleksandr Fedun had been in the Ukrainian army for two years when he got hit last May.
"The enemy reconnaissance did their job and they mined the roads," he says.
He was driving the first truck in a convoy. When he felt the explosion, Fedun says, he managed to swerve and block the road so none of his fellow soldiers would drive on into the mines. Then he started tying tourniquets on himself. Ukrainian medics saved him, but he lost both legs above the knee.
"Life doesn't stop at this," says Fedun, standing on two high-tech, full-leg prostheses, as he tries to stay upright while passing a medicine ball back and forth with his physical therapist in Silver Spring, Md.
Eight months after his injury, Fedun was flown here to get fitted for the legs and learn to use them. An array of charities paid for his trip: the Future for Ukraine and Revive Soldier Ukraine got him to the U.S.; United Help Ukraine is paying for lodging, transportation and support; Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics (MCOP) is fitting the prostheses and training him.
Oleksandr Fedun had been in the Ukrainian army for two years when he got hit last May.
"The enemy reconnaissance did their job and they mined the roads," he says.
He was driving the first truck in a convoy. When he felt the explosion, Fedun says, he managed to swerve and block the road so none of his fellow soldiers would drive on into the mines. Then he started tying tourniquets on himself. Ukrainian medics saved him, but he lost both legs above the knee.
"Life doesn't stop at this," says Fedun, standing on two high-tech, full-leg prostheses, as he tries to stay upright while passing a medicine ball back and forth with his physical therapist in Silver Spring, Md.
Eight months after his injury, Fedun was flown here to get fitted for the legs and learn to use them. An array of charities paid for his trip: the Future for Ukraine and Revive Soldier Ukraine got him to the U.S.; United Help Ukraine is paying for lodging, transportation and support; Medical Center Orthotics and Prosthetics (MCOP) is fitting the prostheses and training him.
Ukrainian soldiers benefit from U.S. prosthetics expertise but their war is different
Posted from npr.org
Russia
Ukraine
Posted 1 y ago
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The level of assistance Prosthetics give to those who need them have really improved lightyears over previous levels of service.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
...""Eventually this war's going to end — no wars go on forever. And the reality of all of this is going back to work or doing something, his rehab and all that, it's a lifetime. Prosthetics will be part of his life for a considerable amount of time," he said.
Even now, with all the help and attention and positive energy — Tyshchenko says it's been hard to adjust even to the good news — that he can walk again.
"For half a year, you don't have a leg and you never believe you would walk. And finally, you can stand up on your own and you can walk — psychologically it's very hard to adjust to," he said.
Here in the states, near Walter Reed hospital, Tyshchenko says he's felt the support and respect that people have for severely wounded veterans. They act normal around him. That's something he's craving — and his family have noticed, says his wife Iryna Tyshchenko.
"I see very clearly that he resists very much my sympathy and he wants me to treat him as a normal person living normal life, and that requires a lot of effort on my side. And in our family, I want nothing to change compared to what it was before the injury," she says, "I feel he needs that."
In Ukraine, she says, civilians don't really know how to do that yet, but as the war drags on, it's something they may be forced to learn."
...""Eventually this war's going to end — no wars go on forever. And the reality of all of this is going back to work or doing something, his rehab and all that, it's a lifetime. Prosthetics will be part of his life for a considerable amount of time," he said.
Even now, with all the help and attention and positive energy — Tyshchenko says it's been hard to adjust even to the good news — that he can walk again.
"For half a year, you don't have a leg and you never believe you would walk. And finally, you can stand up on your own and you can walk — psychologically it's very hard to adjust to," he said.
Here in the states, near Walter Reed hospital, Tyshchenko says he's felt the support and respect that people have for severely wounded veterans. They act normal around him. That's something he's craving — and his family have noticed, says his wife Iryna Tyshchenko.
"I see very clearly that he resists very much my sympathy and he wants me to treat him as a normal person living normal life, and that requires a lot of effort on my side. And in our family, I want nothing to change compared to what it was before the injury," she says, "I feel he needs that."
In Ukraine, she says, civilians don't really know how to do that yet, but as the war drags on, it's something they may be forced to learn."
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