Dear friends, we are asking you for your assistance. Today Yevhen came back to the clinic where the treatment of fighters within the Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded project is carried out. The man is the People’s Hero of Ukraine and Chevalier of many state awards, he is a true legend of this war, a Special Forces officer who had been heavily wounded in a battle with Russian marines.
Before, we did not tell you about Yevhen too much. Still, now when the man has gained more publicity, we can share some details of his professional activities. A major with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Yevhen Slominskyi served in one of the most peculiar units completing combat missions on both sides of the contact line. His service started yet in 2010, when on finishing his regular service he signed a contract and stayed in the Army. He served as a paratrooper with the famous 25th Airborne Brigade, and later was reassigned to a Special Forces division.
Yevhen got injured near the village of Novozvanivka: the guys were guarding the newly occupied position they had just fought back from the enemy. The opponents started counter attacking; with his arm already injured, Yevhen fired the under barrel grenade launcher at the enemy. A guy whose name was Roman, rushed to back his comrades: at the expense of his own life he gave them the chance to withdraw and re-group. Yevhen was forced to leave the battlefield: with his both arms and a leg severely injured, he was still pushing ahead into combat.
This is how Yevhen’s arms looked at the start
Yevhen joined the Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded project after numerous surgeries performed in conventional hospitals. At the very beginning of his treatment we had to deal with the following: a fragment of his left metacarpal gone smashed out due to a shotgun injury, and the remains of the fingers stayed were fixed by means of a pin.
Loads of scrap metal, a finger is nearly off, and the chances for recuperation are rather illusory – this is what Yevhen’s condition was like when he joined the Project
His right hand was even worse – the damaged carpal bones did not fuse up for a long time. The leg was badly hurt as well: the cruciate ligament gone damaged. Comparing to the rest of the injuries, this trauma looks rather a minor one, still it does not allow the man to step on the leg.
This is how the wound looked during the treatment. It is still far from the end
For today, the situation looks like this. As soon as the chief doctor of the Project, Volodymyr Oksymets, is not only a brilliant surgeon orthopedist or a parent of stem cells’ practical application in the reconstructive surgery, but also a great plastic surgeon, – it proved very helpful for Yevhen: Volodymyr Mykhailovych performed a number of surgeries (which included even attaching a patient’s arm to his belly!) and, eventually, formed a great hand for Yevhen, in which the finger saved from amputation was properly placed at last.
After some time, when tissues have taken rest after surgeries, the doctors will model the missing fragment of metacarpal bone with the help of cell technology – but now the time for this has not come yet. Among other things, cell materials helped to fuse up the injured bones of the other hand – even though now there are still orthopedic plates in it, the x-ray shows that the edges of fracture are fusing up into a nice bone, which will be even stronger with time.
This is how Yevhen looked in May, following his then latest surgery
Now, when we can say that all is getting better and Yevhen’s body has gained strength after the difficult treatment, it is the right time to pay attention to his leg. Soon, Yevhen is to undergo one of the initial surgeries, during which doctor Oksymets will reconstruct the ligaments and restore the osteo-muscular apparatus of the knee back to its normal state.
Right now Yevhen is waiting for the next surgery
Now let us explain you the kind of assistance we urgently need from you. Fortunately, we have already raised the funds needed for Yevhen’s treatment – and if there are no sudden extra expenses, for today we have all his bills for over 700 thousand hryvnias already paid by People’s Project. But Yevhen is not the last patient of the Project who needs our help. The reality is that the state shuns the complex and costly process of treatment. Doctors do not have means to effectively cure all the fighters in hospitals, while new technologies have not still been sponsored by the state. This is why the financial burden rests on volunteers’ shoulders.
At the moment, we still have to pay off the last part of the bills for Petro, the fighter whose leg had gone nearly torn apart by a mine explosion. We snatched him off the operating table, saved from amputation and are now proceeding with treatment of his damaged leg. Also, we have a young marine Dmytro – he had been hit by an explosive bullet and nearly lost his entire arm, so we will have to grow up the whole joint anew for him. And Serhiy, the paratrooper whose joint had gone severely damaged by a bullet and unable to move: a new bone is to be grown up for him as well. And Volodymyr, who tried to protect his head with his arm against a mortar bomb blast. Apart from the rest of his severe injuries, he lacks bones in the forearm – and our task is to grow them up for him, too. We are urging you to join the Project and assist us in giving hope to all our fighters and bringing them back to normal life. These guys sacrificed their well-being for us to enjoy our quiet and peaceful life, so they definitely deserve our care and compassion, don’t you think? Dear friends, do participate in the Project, as even a few hryvnias of your donation make an important input into our shared duty of saving the wounded fighters.
