“We can see the results”: Denys Honcharenko’s loved ones tell Oleksii Sukhanov the story of fighting for his health and the support provided to the defender by the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation helped provide rehabilitation for Ukrainian defender and Metinvest employee from Kryvyi Rih, Denys Honcharenko. For his loved ones, this support is extremely important, as it gives him a chance to recover from his injuries and return to a full life.

Denys’s condition is now gradually improving: he is beginning to speak, walks with support, is regaining his sight, and gaining weight. His mother Svitlana and his beloved Yuliia spoke about this in an interview with Oleksii Sukhanov - actor, TV host, and ambassador of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Watch the interview here: https://bit.ly/4wp2kUA

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Denys Honcharenko joined the defense of Ukraine in the ranks of the National Guard. In 2023, during the battles for Bakhmut, he suffered a severe mine-blast head injury. After that, he could not speak, feed himself, and had almost completely lost his sight. The road to recovery was difficult. His parents and his beloved Yuliia, who hardly ever left his side, were with him the entire time.

“I massaged his legs, fingers, and hands. At that time, he started writing a little with his left hand. I held the sheet of paper, and he wrote to me: ‘I love you, my love.’ It was very important because he could not say it out loud. At first, that was the only way we communicated,” Yuliia says in the interview.

The fight for Denys’s health has now been going on for three years. His mother Svitlana recalls that at the beginning doctors discharged him home without any recovery prognosis. But the family did not give up: they went for rehabilitation in Modrychi, and this noticeably improved his condition. Later, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation also helped with his recovery.

“I am very grateful to the Foundation. It helped with rehabilitation and supports my son’s recovery. We can see the results. Thanks to this, we keep going, keep fighting, and hold on to hope that Denys will stand up and walk. He is already making progress: he walks with support, eats independently, communicates with Yuliia, and carries on conversations. This is a huge achievement for us,” says Svitlana.

These changes inspire the family to continue fighting for his recovery, although earlier it had seemed almost impossible. Svitlana recalls that at first she even warned Yuliia: the outcome could be unpredictable, and she should think about her own future. Denys himself also once refused communication - later Yuliia realized that he did not want to become a burden to her.

“After that, a little later, I called him and said: ‘Don’t even think about it. I will not leave you, no matter what the situation is. You know that very well.’ There was only one such case; it never happened again. Later, he understood that I was by his side. I have a strong motivation - I want to help him get back on his feet. I will fight until the very end. He sees that he has support, and that makes things easier for him,” says Yuliia.

Today, the family continues the fight for Denys’s recovery every single day. Despite the difficult journey, they do not lose faith and say that the most important things are constant progress and the support of loved ones. There is still a long rehabilitation ahead, but every small step gives hope for the defender’s recovery.