“Condition improved significantly”: a seriously injured Mariupol resident undergoes rehabilitation from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Oleh Soshnikov could not leave Mariupol in the spring of 2022: he was carrying his seriously ill mother-in-law. That day, the enemy hit his house twice. Oleh buried his wife a few hours after he freed himself from the rubble. He was seriously wounded... There are several operations behind. Recovery is ahead, and the rehabilitation course provided by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is a step towards it.

“I am very grateful to the Foundation for providing this opportunity. I am glad to be here, in a multidisciplinary sanatorium. The treatment is working. I attended the procedures prescribed by the doctor and the psychologist. She is a wise and experienced person, and it was nice to talk to her,” Oleh talks about his rehabilitation course.

Nataliia Vartsaba, the therapist at Borzhava sanatorium, said that the facility regularly conducts rehabilitation courses for those who are supported by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

“After the complex of procedures, Oleh feels very well, his condition has improved significantly. The patient is satisfied with the rehabilitation course and the help of our psychologist,” the doctor added.

Oleh recalls how he sought medical help the very next day after the shelling. He was in a hospital in temporarily occupied Donetsk. After discharge, he returned home to Mariupol. He lived in a burned-out porch, neighbours brought him food. The man could not walk.

“I found an opportunity to go to Poland. There, the doctors broke my legs again and inserted pins. Irons were already taken out in Lviv. And now, thanks to the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, I have undergone rehabilitation. It is felt, of course, that the legs and arms are injured, but this is nothing compared to it was,” Oleh says.

Now he lives in a village in Zhytomyr region. After the liberation of Mariupol, he is ready to return to rebuild own city.

Within the “Treatment and Rehabilitation of Wounded Adults” programme, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provides aid to residents of Ukraine affected by hostile shelling of residential areas: treatment, rehabilitation, psychological help, etc.

If you or someone you know needs help, please write to the Foundation's messenger (http://m.me/AkhmetovFDU) or call the toll-free hotline at 0 800 509 001 (the line is open from Monday to Friday).