"Bring my legs back". How a 24-year-old triple amputee is learning to live a new life

Denys Kryvenko, 24, went to the front after receiving a call-up notice at the plant where he worked. He made it through a year of hot spots of the Ukrainian war unscathed. However, on 3 January, his life was divided into the before and the after.

Russians shell ripped off both his legs and his left arm. However, this did not break his fighting spirit. With a big smile, he says that he can get up and walk with his prostheses, and not grieve for his lost limbs.

Denys is learning how to use his new metal legs daily and preparing to make his dreams come true at the Superhumans Centre.

Denys told his story to Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia (Life). Chief prosthetist Viktoriia Olikh added to the story, explaining the nuances of prostheses for the lower and upper limbs.

Double rejection by the military enlistment office

At the age of 19, Denys completed a year and a half of conscript service, then worked at a plant in his native city of Kropyvnytskyi. Denys found the job to be hard but well-paid.

On 24 February 2022, he was resting after his shift. He was 23 years old. His mother called and said that the war had started. But, being half-awake, Denys did not grasp the magnitude of the situation. A few minutes later, his younger brother woke him up.

"I lived with my brother, who was serving as a professional soldier at the time. So he was supposed to be the first to be called up. I joked that I was older, so he should join the queue behind me," Denys says with a big smile.

Before going to the military enlistment office, Denys persuaded his mother and two younger brothers to leave Ukraine.

Denys undergoing rehabilitation in Lviv. Photo by Superhumans Centre

He was rejected twice when he tried to join up voluntarily. On 15 March, he was issued with call-up papers at his work, and the following day he was assessed fit for service.

"I didn't want the war to come to my home. So, on 17 July I left for Lysychansk [a city in eastern Ukraine close to the Russian border - ed.]. I arrived in the east as a serviceman of the 57th Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We waited for ammunition for a few days, got up to speed, did some training and went to the frontline.

We held Rubizhne along with the National Guard for a month and a half, then moved to Nyzhnie, Luhansk Oblast... We built a team that made us feel fearless," the fighter says.

By January 2023, Denys had survived many hotspots on the frontline unscathed. In his spare time, he took a keen interest in tactical medicine and was a medic in the field. Denys says he learned from his older brothers-in-arms, watched videos and read books. What he learned saved the lives of several soldiers in his unit.

You can't hear the one that gets you

On 3 January, the soldiers received an order from their superiors to retreat from the village because the Russians had launched an offensive and the Ukrainians were outnumbered. Denys' brigade was the last to retreat.

"The fighting was raging, I had just managed to cross the road. An anti-tank shell fell half a metre away from me. As they say in war, you can't hear the one that gets you. That's exactly what happened.

I lost my right leg and left arm on the spot, half of my assault rifle was cut off. My left leg was twisted. The guys thought they could save it, but it was only hanging by the skin," the soldier recalls.

Denys' brothers-in-arms had been practising tactical medicine at the training ground, so they reacted fast when it came to it. They applied tourniquets and carried him 2.5 kilometres to a vehicle. All this time, Denys remained conscious.

He adds that he did not feel any pain in the severed limbs, except for the strong pressure of the tourniquets. An hour later, his brothers-in-arms checked on him, tightened the tourniquets and topped up his anaesthetic.

"While being evacuated and to dilute the panic and fatigue a bit, I was making jokes, laughing, crying and singing the national anthem. My friend, who was very worried about me, said: ‘You were so tired that you said your goodbyes twice, but you survived, we are so happy to see you," the young hero recalls with warmth in his voice.

"Bring my legs back"

Denys’ condition was stabilised in Kramatorsk, and immediately afterwards he was evacuated to Mechnikov Hospital in Dnipro.

"The most frightening thing was that I could hear everything, but I couldn't do anything after the anaesthesia. I tried to shake myself up. Then I thought – it’s okay, I'm alive.

The next day, while my wounds were being dressed, I started making jokes. Like, what are you doing, why are you bandaging me, bring my legs back," Denys recalls and grins even wider.

Denys' "new" legs

Denys tells us that he called his mother on 4 January. Her number was the only one he knew by heart.

"I called her and told her not to worry, and that I was missing an arm and two legs. I was very composed. She said she'd be there tomorrow. On the evening of 5 January, she was by my side," Denys continues.

A few weeks later, the fighter was transferred to the city of Vinnytsia for rehabilitation.

"Getting my surgeon in Vinnytsia was a stroke of luck - a great guy. He specialises in thyroid and abdominal surgery, and I was his first amputee. He sat me down the second day after I arrived from Dnipro. I said I was afraid, I hadn't been sitting for a week. He said it's okay, that I had to get used to it. We practised for five minutes a day, then the rehabilitation therapists started to increase the duration," the soldier says.

Denys gradually regained the muscle tone in his back. He notes that he has never been depressed because of the loss of his limbs.

An arm as a gadget

At first, Denys had his arm prosthetics done in Germany, in collaboration with Ukrainian specialists. He has a myoelectric prosthesis, which means that his hand can perform several movements and is also able to hold a load.

"Expectations for hand prosthetics are very high, and they do not always match reality. It is extremely difficult to restore the function of the upper limb. Unfortunately, today we cannot talk about a full recovery of upper-limb functionality, regardless of the type of prosthesis.

But it all depends on the person's will and the extent of how ready they are. If they have a desire to use the prosthesis, this counts towards a very high percentage of prosthetics success," Viktoriia Olikh, chief prosthetist at the Superhumans rehabilitation centre, says.

Read also: Happiness is to have a hand again. Soldier talks about injuries, amputation and electric prosthesis

She adds that in general, there are three categories of upper limb prostheses: cosmetic, mechanical and myoelectric (also called bionic). The latter can move the fingers and perform many fine motor tasks.

"This is a very functional item that also helps with adapting to daily life. The only thing is that they are not waterproof and do not tolerate dust, so they need to be used with care.

You should also understand that it is a gadget. It can last a long time, but it will not last a lifetime," the prosthetist explains.

The average life of this kind of prosthesis is 2.5 to 3 years.

Denys' myoelectric arm

Viktoriia emphasises that before fitting a myoelectric prosthesis, a team of specialists must examine the amputee's stump and test muscle impulses. If they are insufficient, an individual rehabilitation programme is developed. If the muscles are atrophied and unable to recover, a bionic prosthesis cannot be fitted.

Denys, for example, has a reinforced bionic prosthesis. He uses it to train in the gym, including on the parallel bars, when he is learning to walk.

Taking first steps the second time around

Denys notes that the first steps were difficult, as his muscles were not used to working. He got back on his feet the day after he was measured up - the socket (i.e., a holder for the stump) was produced in just one day.

The Superhumans Centre tells us that the mother of 24-year-old Denys then stretched out her arms to her son and said: "We are taking our first steps the second time around."

In leg prosthetics, they always start with the shortest length of a tube, so the patient in fact gets a foot for their stumps (amputated limbs). The first task is to restore balance and re-engage the core muscles.

Then, the prosthesis tube is gradually lengthened, and if necessary, the knees are installed.

"We worked through my feeling that it couldn’t be done. It was hard at first. When you get taller, you have to start all over again. The more I ‘grew’, the harder it got. At the moment  I'm 1.7 metres tall with my prostheses, and before the injury I had been 1.85," Denys says.

Denys explains that  the prosthesis weighs considerably, but it is not overly heavy.

Denys is learning to walk again

Despite the difficulties, the fighter always stays positive. He says that his brothers-in-arms forbade him to return to his unit on his prostheses, because "they would take away his legs".

So Denys has an ambitious dream: to try his hand at sports. In a year after his injury, when his stumps become stable, he will be fitted with a sports prosthesis. He also wants to finally ride a bike and drive a car.

"There are sports prostheses for professional running. They are different from walking prostheses: they have special electronic knees and shins with increased functionality that allow you to run professionally," Viktoriia says.

She adds that it is possible to drive with prostheses. It is advisable to switch the car to hand controls to avoid using the prosthetic legs. However, it depends on many things including the degree of amputation and the prosthesis configuration.

Living with prostheses

Viktoriia explains that a prosthesis weighs between two and four kilos, but it is always lighter than a natural limb. It may seem heavy if the limb has been amputated for a long time and muscle tone is lost.

The main rule of life with a prosthesis is that you have to love it.

Denys and Mykhailo have already grown to love their prostheses

The prosthetist tells us that in addition to sports prostheses, there are also bathing prostheses. They have a low-functionality configuration that helps the patient get to the pool or river. The bathing prosthesis does not help with swimming, but it is waterproof and a person is able to reach the water by themselves.

She adds that discomfort can also occur due to complications: neuromas (a small tumour or abnormal nerve growth) and bone spurts (bony growths). In these conditions, the patient is sensitive to even minimal touch, and walking with a prosthesis can cause significant discomfort.

A change in the volume of the stump may also become an inconvenience. This can happen for example due to swelling. Therefore, patients are warned that even minimal doses of alcohol can affect the condition of the stump. Changes in temperature or significant physical exertion (a long walk the day before) can also have an impact.

In winter, the prosthesis can freeze in severe cold. Ukrainian soldiers are fitted with hydraulic knees, and the lubricant may thicken, but when they walk, it warms up and liquifies.

A myoelectric prosthesis can lose charge faster in the cold. This should be taken into account, because if the battery is flat, it will stop working.

To get a prosthesis at the Superhumans Centre, you need to contact the centre or fill out a form on the centre’s website. The form is processed in one to three days. Patients receive rehabilitation and prosthetics free of charge.

Viktoriia Andrieieva, specially for Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia

Translation: Oxana Hart

Editing: Susan McDonald