"I believe life goes on": the story of a Ukrainian defender who lost a leg and his sight after being wounded at the front
Andrii Sydorenko, 47, from Lviv, left his safe life abroad and voluntarily enlisted in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He sustained a severe blast injury that resulted in him losing his eyesight and his left leg.
Source: the Unbroken Rehabilitation Centre
Details: Andrii had worked abroad with his wife all his adult life. In January 2024, he joined the army and served as a medic and rifleman in the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade named after King Danylo.
Six months later, in July, a Russian munition exploded right in front of Andrii, and fragments of it entered his head, limbs and stomach. He was instantly blinded and had to find his way out of the battlefield by touch.
"We were supposed to be celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary in the summer, and he’d promised to come back on leave," the defender's wife said. "But instead of a call from Andrii, I received the news that my husband had been wounded.
I’d had trouble breathing that day; I had this feeling that something was wrong. But when I found out he was alive, I prayed that I’d be able to see him as soon as possible."
Since then, Andrii has undergone 13 operations, including on his abdomen and limbs. The surgeons had to amputate his left leg at the level of the upper third of the shin.
"Our prosthetists have already made an artificial limb for the patient, and he’s learning to walk on it. It isn’t easy. After all, Andrii is totally blind. He has physically lost one eye, which has been replaced by our ophthalmologists. The other eye is still there, but there’s no vision in it – the optic nerve is irreversibly damaged," the Unbroken Centre says.
Andrii is now working with physio- and occupational therapists who are helping him learn how to use a cane for the visually impaired and to navigate his surroundings.
The defender himself admits that even though he can’t see the beauty around him, he still wants to go outdoors and enjoy the scent of the trees and the sound of the river.
"I believe that life goes on, and I will be able to adapt to my new circumstances. And I have my wife by my side. She is always by my side, holding my hand. We have two children. My son, like a real man, has become our support, and my daughter helps at home," says Andrii.
Previously: Ukrainska Pravda told the story of 25-year-old chorister Yaroslav Makar, who voluntarily joined the Armed Forces and lost a leg at the front.
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