An artillery shell should have killed Andrii Smolenskyi in May. Instead, the blast tore off both of his arms above the elbow and destroyed his eyes. Now he's fighting to put his life back together.
Andrii Smolenskyi and his wife, Alina Smolenska, on May 26, 2022. Andrii never wanted to be a soldier. But when Russia invaded Ukraine last year, he refused to flee Kyiv and instead stayed to defend his country.Andrii Smolenskyi and his wife, Alina Smolenska, on May 26, 2022. Andrii never wanted to be a soldier. But when Russia invaded Ukraine last year, he refused to flee Kyiv and instead stayed to defend his country.
Andrii's mind raced as he tried to quantify the loss of the life he once knew. As he lay in bed suspended in disbelief, he felt a presence in the room with him and then a gentle touch on his leg.Andrii's wife, Alina Smolenska, had traveled seven hours by car to be with her husband. And she had spent the past two days with him, hoping and praying, until he had finally awakened from his coma.
"Even 25,000, in relation to the Afghan and Iraq wars, there was about 2,800 U.S. service members who lost limbs — you're looking at at least 10 times that," Corcoran said. "Losing an arm or a leg, or multiple arms and multiple legs, can be a great loss," Vandersea said."You go through similar feelings as if you lost a loved one, you know? You're losing a part of your body, so you go through the five stages of loss and grieving, depression, etc. And it's important to try to make these individuals whole."
The program has already provided care for 15 of the 24 patients it plans to help this year. And though the program obviously has a major impact on the patients it's helping, it's not nearly enough considering how many people are in need, Vandersea said. And funding is falling short."We need additional funds to take care of more of these soldiers," he said."They need a lot more care than we have available to provide.
"We really need the help, if it's possible, to do some surgeries or something else on the eyes. 'Cause Andrii doesn't have the eyes themselves," Alina says."Hopefully, we think that the nerve is safe. We hope so." He struggled to join the military at first — the army desperately needed trained soldiers. But after a few months, he was able to join Ukraine's 47th Assault Battalion, which Andrii said was created as a unit for newly recruited civilians who wanted to defend their homeland. The unit has since expanded to become the 47th Mechanized Brigade.On May 25, Andrii was low-crawling to retrieve a piece of equipment when the explosion happened.
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