“For more than three years, we have been fighting for Denys’s life”: the mother of Ukraine’s defender Svitlana Honcharenko shared the story of her son’s fight for recovery with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Denys Honcharenko - a defender of Ukraine and a Metinvest employee from Kryvyi Rih - joined the ranks of the National Guard to defend the country. In 2023, during the battles for Bakhmut, he suffered a severe blast-related head injury: he could not speak, feed himself, and had practically lost his sight. Recently, he received rehabilitation assistance from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. Svitlana shared the story of her son’s fight for life with the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

According to Denys’s mother, Svitlana, her son’s condition has already improved significantly. He is beginning to speak, walks with support, is regaining his sight, and gaining weight. Several years ago, such progress seemed unattainable, but thanks to the support of caring people and the Foundation, Denys is gradually recovering.

“Three years ago, to put it bluntly, we were sent home to die. We did not give up and went to Morshyn for rehabilitation. For more than three years, we have been fighting for Denys’s life. For me, this is a victory. Little by little, he is returning to the life he had before the injury: his first steps, his first movements. It gave me wings as well. That is why I am deeply grateful to the Foundation for responding and helping my son with rehabilitation,” Svitlana says.

The road to recovery was not easy. The hardest part at first was emotional. According to Svitlana, Denys initially lost hope. He could not speak, but constantly wrote: “Leave me alone, I do not want to live.” But despite everything, his parents believed in a miracle.

Svitlana searched for ways to secure the best treatment for her son, while his father Oleksandr had to leave his job in order to care for Denys. Denys’s beloved girlfriend, Yuliia, was also always by his side.

“She never left him. As a mother, I felt I had to speak with her: that the outcome could be different. She is a young woman, she needs to build her own life. Do you really need this? She started crying - I will never forget it. She got down on her knees, crying, and said: ‘Please don’t push me away from him.’ If it had not been for her, I am 100% certain we would not have achieved these results,” Svitlana says.

The woman says that Denys had always wanted to help people: he even considered becoming an emergency worker or firefighter. And after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he was among the first to go and defend the country, sacrificing his health for it. Now his parents are doing everything possible to help their son recover.

“For families whose loved ones have been wounded, the main thing is not to give up. Believe and keep fighting. Knock on every door - somewhere, one will open. I have gone through all of this myself and continue to go through it. There is always a way out,” Svitlana is convinced.

Watch Svitlana Honcharenko’s story here: https://bit.ly/41VhfI5

The collection of the Museum of Civilian Voices founded by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation already numbers more than 145,000 stories about the war. This is the largest collection in the world of testimonies from civilians affected by russia’s war against Ukraine.