Doctors in Lviv make Ukrainian soldier's dream come true: he can run again – photo
Hennadii Tamulevych, a soldier who had lost his limb and hoped to be able to run again, has received a sports prosthesis and already ran his first 300 metres.
The 25-year-old soldier comes from Luhansk Oblast. As a teenager, he decided to become a professional soldier after Russian troops occupied his hometown of Pervomaisk during the outbreak of war in Ukraine’s east. So, after school, the young man entered the military academy in Odesa, writes the National Rehabilitation Centre Nezlamni ("Unbreakable").
Hennadii was near Kyiv when the full-scale war with Russia broke out. He led a group that cannot be named for security reasons during the battles for the capital. When the Russians withdrew from the capital, Hennadii’s unit was redeployed to Kharkiv. Then on to Zaporizhzhia, where the soldier was injured in April 2022.
"On that day, a group of our soldiers visited one of the settlements to ensure that no invaders were left. But as they approached the houses, they realised that [the Russians] had been waiting for them. A shootout started. The battle was almost face-to-face.
Hennadii saw his opponent from 10 metres away. He aimed a machine gun at him. Just a moment, and the defender felt as if an electric current hit him in the leg. But, before fainting, he gathered his strength and shot at the enemy, killing him," the rehabilitation centre notes.
Hennadii awoke at a hospital in Zaporizhzhia. Doctors fought hard to save his leg, but in the end it had to be amputated as two bullets obliterated his knee joint and hip.
Hennadii Tamulevych was later treated in Dnipro, Vinnytsia, Lviv, as well as Germany, where he received the first prosthesis.
"It was not easy. You have to get used to it. But the foundation is laid. Dreams come true," Hennadii said.
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