Two years and 10 operations: how Ivano-Frankivsk medics saved soldier's leg from amputation – photo
Petro Yablinchuk was severely injured in the combat zone in the very early days of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It has taken doctors nearly two years to save his leg from amputation, during which time Petro has had over 10 operations.
Source: Ivano-Frankivsk Central City Clinical Hospital
"In 2022 I went to war as a volunteer because I had combat experience. I’d served in the Anti-Terrorist Operation zone [i.e. the war zone in Donbas – ed.] for three years before that, but my service in 2014-2017 was much easier," Petro recalls.
He was hospitalised on 13 March 2022 after just three days on the front line when he and his fellow soldiers were hit by Russian aircraft in Zhytomyr Oblast.
Petro suffered a severe blast injury to his left leg. In such cases, the limb is often amputated.
"The back of his thigh, knee and shin had no skin or muscles at all. Since the artery was not damaged, the medics’ main objective was to save the limb," said Stepan Zelyk, head of the Traumatic Surgery, Orthopedics, Reconstructive and Plastic Surgery Department.
Dead tissue was removed from the patient many times, and plastic surgery was conducted in several stages. The damage to the tissue was significant, doctors said. A large area of skin was infected as a result of the blast injury, which made treatment more complicated.
The team was joined by a specialist burns surgeon who understood the difference between treating combat and civilian injuries.
At the end of March 2024, Petro was finally discharged from hospital, his leg completely healed.
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