He suffered a heart attack after Russian shelling: 12-year-old boy from Bakhmut receives treatment in Lviv

12-year-old Mykhailo Baiev from Bakhmut is receiving medical treatment in Lviv after sustaining dozens of shrapnel wounds to his face and neck as a result of Russian rocket fire.

During the shelling, Mykhailo lost his father, who had raised him and his brother on his own – and he also lost his home for the second time, says the First Medical Association of Lviv.

About three months ago, the boy and his father were outside when a Russian rocket flew into the yard.

At that moment, Mykhailo started running into the house to hide. The shock wave from there threw him onto the porch.

Mykhailo Baev from Bakhmut.

All photos: First Medical Association of Lviv

Mykhailo's father was fatally wounded on the spot.

Mykhailo was taken to hospital in a critical condition. The doctors diagnosed him with a blast injury; rocket shards were stuck in the boy's head and neck.

One of these obstructed the blood supply to the brain and caused him to have a heart attack. The other was stuck next to the carotid artery.

First, Mykhailo was taken to Dnipro, where surgeons managed to restore the blood supply to his brain and stabilise his condition. Then he was taken on to Lviv.

Mykhailo underwent a series of operations in Lviv. Due to the brain damage, he could not walk, speak or swallow.

Due to the Russian attack, Mykhailo and his brother Kyrylo lost their father, who had raised them as a single dad

The boy has been undergoing rehabilitation for the past three months and he has already learned to walk and talk again.

The Medical Association of Lviv emphasises that this is not the first time he has been injured. Mykhailo has a brother. In 2014, the family moved from Horlivka to Bakhmut.

"During shelling in Horlivka, the children were hurrying to shelter and accidentally bumped into a pot of boiling water. Both brothers sustained burns which they are still suffering from and being treated for," the medical association notes.

Currently, Mykhailo needs treatment for the scars that formed on his body after the accident in Horlivka. However, no hospital in Ukraine is able to fully help such patients due to a lack of equipment, the First Medical Association adds.

Mykhailo is now learning to speak, walk and move different parts of his body again

Read more: Hit by a shell while busy with chores: 13-year-old-boy from Kherson Oblast undergoes operation in Kyiv

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