“I’m so happy they saved my arm”: seriously wounded Yuliia from Donetsk region receives treatment support from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Forty-year-old Yuliia from Donetsk region was injured in the winter of 2025 during the shelling of Kostiantynivka. The blast wave caused a concussion, shrapnel injuries to her arm, and severe lacerations. After surgery, doctors installed a fixation device, but the bone failed to heal properly. The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provided an implant and the necessary medications for the woman.

That day, Yuliia was simply walking down the street. The explosion happened suddenly. An acquaintance who had been nearby was killed on the spot. Despite the concussion and her badly torn arm, the woman miraculously remained conscious. Bleeding heavily, she managed to run to military personnel.

“They immediately gave me first aid. Of course, I started shaking, I was in shock. I said: ‘May I go lie down for a bit?’ They said: ‘Get ready, you’ll be evacuated today,’” the woman recalls.

She was then urgently taken to a hospital in Kramatorsk and later transferred to Poltava. Today, Yuliia is once again learning basic things: she is gradually regaining movement in her arm and is already seeing noticeable progress.

“I can already hold water. Of course, it’s only half a liter - but that’s already progress. I think it will only get better and better from here,” she explains.

Yuliia’s family is originally from Kostiantynivka. When the situation in the city became critical, the family was evacuated to Kyiv. However, life in the new place proved extremely difficult for the woman. Yuliia already had a Group II disability, and in 2024 doctors diagnosed her with cancer. The prognosis was grim: doctors gave her no more than two to three months to live. Because of the illness, her weight had dropped to a critical 38 kilograms.

“They were afraid to operate on her. The doctor said: ‘I will not take responsibility for this.’ He said she was no longer responding to treatment. The doctors sent her home to die. They said she would not make it, would not endure it anymore,” says Liubov Mykolaivna, Yuliia’s mother.

But when the medications proved powerless, Yuliia made a desperate decision - to return home, to Donetsk region, to Kostiantynivka. There, something happened that is difficult to explain in medical terms. Within the walls of her home, the woman’s condition began improving rapidly: Yuliia started walking again, gained weight, and can now even ride a bicycle.

Now Yuliia faces another challenge - restoring her arm after the severe injury and regaining its mobility.

Within the framework of the project “Treatment and Rehabilitation for Wounded Adults,” the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation provides assistance to civilians in Ukraine affected by shelling. The Foundation has already helped provide treatment and rehabilitation to more than 11,000 Ukrainians.

If you or someone you know needs help, please contact the Foundation via Messenger: http://m.me/AkhmetovFDU or call the free hotline: 0 800 509 001 (the line operates Monday through Friday).