Life should be lived with a head held high and always moving forward

The amputation happened at the end of 2021 after I was in a car accident. The doctors did not make a decision for a long time, in fact they brought me to the hospital and immediately took me to the amputation. When I saw my leg after the accident, I was shocked, but then after a couple of minutes I accepted the fact that my limb was damaged, the main thing is that I was alive. In the morning I woke up without a leg.

I was curious as to whether the amputation was before or after the knee. Psychologically, I continued to be completely normal during the whole time. At 10 a.m. I was transferred from the intensive care unit to a regular ward. My wife and relatives came and depression was out of the question, as well as negative thoughts. My friends came to me all the time and supported me. I thought only about the fact that life goes on, then I will go on crutches.

I saw different people in the ward who were just lying there with fractured limbs and were already losing their spirits. I tried to boost their morale, telling them that everything would be fine, that they had something and someone to live for.

After the amputation, the doctor who performed the amputation came to me in the evening. He explained that he had tried to save my knee, but it had failed because it was badly deformed.

Then came the complications, it was necessary to remove the stitches and open the wound, as it festered. Taking into account that I had torn ligaments, tendons, crushed bones, despite this, the doctor, doing the operation, tried to save my leg as much as possible. I am grateful to him for treating me humanely. I had to lie with an open wound and drainage for about three weeks. I was waiting for the moment when everything would finally heal and I would be able to get on crutches, I had no strength to lie down, because in total I had been lying on my back for about 25 days, the maximum I could do was to sit down, grabbing the pipe.

My wife, my brother and his wife, and close friends were very supportive. Not everyone knew about my problem, that I was in hospital, not even my parents. My son only found out about everything before my discharge. When I was allowed to stand on crutches for the first time, I was as happy as a child on his birthday, and I felt the same emotions when I started using a prosthesis.

My wife was worried that I would get dizzy, but there was no stopping me. My journey around the hospital on crutches ended with me coming back to the ward all wet.

After a month I was discharged, but since it was winter and icy outside, I couldn’t walk on crutches for long. I just started to have thoughts about prosthetics, I began to think out the steps, what to do next. I had different thoughts, thanked that I was alive, that my leg and not my arm had been amputated, and many other things were in my head.

After three weeks I started to pass commissions, MSEC and at the end of February the war began, we decided to wait with prosthetics. I sent my wife and child abroad, and I started scouring the Internet in search of a prosthetic company, and then my wife called me. She told me that she had found the website of the Tellus Center for Prosthetic and Orthopedic Assistance on the Internet, I went to the Instagram page and was very impressed. After seeing the rehabilitologist, a man on a prosthesis, I finally decided to get prosthetics in Odesa. A rehabilitator on a prosthesis is a super motivation for a person who is just about to learn how to use a prosthesis and walk on it.

I was on the train and thought I would arrive at the fitting, put on my prosthetic leg and walk. But I was dreaming. When I first put the prosthesis on, I was overjoyed. Initially there was some discomfort, some chafing, some pressure, but I was so happy to have a fulcrum, words cannot describe it.

The first steps on the bars were easy. I liked the way the rehabilitator taught me, I understood everything ahead of time and followed the recommendations. I was able to catch everything quick and get all the answers to my questions, for which I am very grateful.

I dreamed of walking around Odesa with my prosthesis, but unfortunately it didn’t work out, I had to go back home. A week after the prosthesis, I started to move around without crutches.

I have a motivation and I stick to it. When a baby learns to walk, he always falls down, but he doesn’t cry, doesn’t complain, gets up and tries to take his first steps again. So I show an example to my son that he achieved everything in life independently, grew up a real man and always achieved his goals.

Life should be lived with a head held high, never break down and do not lose heart. Always go forward!