Participant in the Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded project, Oleksandr has completed his second phase of treatment in the Kyiv-based iLaya clinic. Oleksandr was suffering from necrosis of the talus of the foot, a painful illness that was the result of torture, which he suffered in the captivity of the militants. High-tech treatment will give Oleksandr a chance to return to a normal life again. The cost of the entire course of treatment amounted to more than 100,000 UAH, the entire amount has already been collected and handed over to doctors by volunteers from The People’s Project.
Oleksandr was at the front from the first days of the war. He voluntarily joined the ranks of the battalion “Donbas”, while leaving the Ilovaisk area the fighter was captured. For two days the terrorists tortured Oleksandr, it was only be a miracle he survived. After returning from captivity Oleksandr was taken to hospital, but he did not stay in his hospital bed for long: his wounds were patched up and he quickly returned to the front as part of the battalion “Dnepr-1”.
And the consequences of his torture soon became apparent. Now Oleksandr is suffering from avascular necrosis of the talus in his foot: the blood supply to the bone stopped because of damage to blood vessels, and a fragment of bone when deprived of blood flow, just dies. Replacing it is impossible and the patient experiences constant severe pain, besides, necrosis progresses rapidly. The talus is the bone of the foot which accepts almost the greatest load during walking. Without it, full foot movement is not possible.
For state-run medical care Oleksandr initially was a hopeless case. The only thing doctors could offer was to partially remove the gangrenous bone and conduct fusion of the joint.
Oleksandr’s only hope lay in cellular technology provided by the Kyiv-based iLaya Medical Company and funded by the Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded project. He was advised to seek treatment by volunteer and lawyer Iryna Kurylenko. This advice proved to be sound: he recently completed the second phase of treatment. The site of the lesions was filled with special biological gel saturated in the patient’s own cells. After some time at the site of bone defect complete bone will form, and blood vessels will regenerate. Results will be seen in a control review scheduled for six weeks time. Given the experience of using cellular technology in such difficult cases, doctors are quietly confident of successful completion of treatment.
Unfortunately, Oleksandr is not only wounded Ukrainian fighter who could have trauma healed using cell technology. The State does not fund such recovery methods meaning those treated in public hospitals face lifelong disability. Only your donations to the project Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded can help more wounded Ukrainian soldier’s access this unique biotechnology.
