"I felt my body burning": story of defender whose car was hit by anti-tank missile – photo
The Russians hit the evacuation vehicle of Valentyn Bondar, a 35-year-old Poltava resident, with an anti-tank missile. Valentyn has been undergoing treatment for six months after being seriously injured and losing both legs.
Valentyn Bondar voluntarily joined the Armed Forces in early November 2022. The man became the main company driver of the 77th Separate Airmobile Brigade. He was seriously injured six months after he started his service. The Nezlamni (Unbroken) rehabilitation centre said that it happened in May on the Bakhmut front.
Valentyn was evacuating infantrymen from positions that were being actively attacked by the Russians. He was the first in a convoy of vehicles travelling along the so-called "road of life". An occupier hit his car with an anti-tank guided missile. The car caught fire.
Despite severe injuries and burns, Valentyn managed to get out of the fire trap. He said that he had fallen to the ground and rolled for several metres. When he opened his eyes, he saw his legs smashed and tried to apply a tourniquet on his own.
"I was blinded and deafened. I saw an orange colour, and hot metal was ringing in my ears. I could feel my body burning," Valentyn recollects.
He has been undergoing treatment for six months – doctors in several hospitals fought for a long time to save Valentyn's lower limbs, but in vain. His legs had to be amputated.
Now he is completing his rehabilitation in Lviv, where doctors healed his burns and formed stumps for prosthetics.
The prosthetists used a 3D printer to make modern and lightweight stumps for Valentyn. He has already received his first temporary leg prostheses and is learning to walk on them. He plans to receive permanent artificial limbs in his native Poltava to maintain the prostheses at home.
Valentyn says he accepted his injury on the battlefield.
"I went through hell. And I got out for the sake of my girls. I have three of them: my wife, Valentyna, and two daughters, Milana and Anastasiia. So now I just want to be with my family," he says.
Valentyn wants to continue working for Ukraine's victory, but as a civilian.
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