"I am very grateful": a seriously injured resident of Bakhmut undergoes rehabilitation course from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Viacheslav and Oleksandra met the full-scale war in Siversk, Bakhmut district. The wife and her relatives left, and the husband decided to stay "on the farm". On September 17, 2022, he was seriously wounded during an artillery shelling. Having survived treatment and received the first group of disability, 69-year-old Viacheslav underwent a course of physical and psychological rehabilitation from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

"My daughter saw on the internet that the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation offered vouchers. She made a phone call. We got a call a couple of days later, and they sent us the tickets. There is mud, swimming pools, a gym, exercise equipment, physiotherapy, breathing apparatus and a salt room. We are very grateful to Rinat Leonidovich; he is our Donbas resident..." the couple says.

As a result of the shelling, Viacheslav sustained gunshot wounds to his chest, hip, open fracture and artery damage. He was airlifted to Kramatorsk. Then, there were hospitals in Dnipro, Vinnytsia, and Zhmerynka. His wife found out about the injury on the same day.

"I felt my heart sink... I was told that we don't know if he is alive or not; he lost a lot of blood. He was being taken to Dnipro, so I went there. When I saw him, it was horrible. I looked at him and thought: "Oh, my God, I'm not staying anywhere else," the woman recalls.

There were challenges ahead: the leg was "reassembled", and the skin was transplanted. Now, the man is using a walker to get around, and the blood circulation and sensitivity of his left leg have not been fully restored. That's why the rehabilitation provided by the Foundation is so important.

After their experience, Viacheslav and Oleksandra, who had been living together for 25 years, got married. Now, they live in Zaporizhzhia and believe that everything will be fine.

As part of the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Wounded Adults programme, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provides assistance to Ukrainians who have suffered from hostile shelling of residential areas: treatment, rehabilitation, psychological help, etc.

Since 2014, the Foundation has provided treatment and rehabilitation to over 11 thousand Ukrainians.

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