Her only thought.
When her husband was wounded.
Was to get to.
His bedside.
“I just wanted.
To be with him.
To touch him.
To say that he’s not alone.”
“In situations like this.
When a person needs support.
I would touch.
Their hand.”
But when she reached him in hospital.
That was impossible.
“I saw that he really.
Didn’t have his hands.”
“So I just touched his leg.
And started to talk to him.
I said: ‘We are a family.
Don’t worry.”
“Of course.
There will be some.
Harsh moments.
But we are together’.”
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
Hours earlier.
He had been commanding.
A small reconnaissance unit.
On Ukraine’s southern front.
As the 27-year-old started.
Climbing out of a trench.
An explosion ripped.
Through earth and sky.
His next memory is.
Of waking up in hospital.
“It felt like a dream.
Everything was so dark.”
Slowly, he realized.
He couldn’t move his hands.
And that something was on his eyes.
Covering them.
He lost his sight.
Most of his hearing, and both of his arms.
One amputated above the elbow.
The other below.
Shrapnel was embedded deep.
Under his skin.
His face had to.
Be rebuilt.
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
He is tall and lean, with ready humour.
And a slightly rasping voice.
His latest surgery was.
To remove a breathing tube from his neck.
She sits by his side.
On his hospital bed.
Her head nestling on his shoulder.
Her hand resting on his knee.
Their words, and their laughter.
Often overlap.
She is also 27.
Petite and blonde.
And a tower of strength.
“My wife is incredible.
She’s my hero.
With me 100%.”
She has supported him.
Through his injury.
And his battle to adjust through.
Physiotherapy and 20 operations.
When he’s thirsty.
She gently lifts a straw to his lips.
He now sees the world.
Through her eyes.
He is “grateful to God”.
To have escaped any brain injury.
His call sign in the army.
Was “the apostle”.
And he believes.
His survival was miraculous.
“Psychologically.
It was hard to get through that.”
“But when I accepted.
My new body.
I would say I felt good.
Challenge accepted.”
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
Doctors expected him.
To be in a coma.
For three days.
After he was injured.
He was conscious in one.
She says he’s “stubborn.
In a good meaning.
Of that word”.
When they met on a summer evening.
In 2018.
She was smitten.
From the start.
“I realised he was.
An exceptional person.
Extremely intelligent.
And thoughtful.”
They shared a love of the outdoors.
And hiking in the Carpathian Mountains.
Four years ago this month.
They married.
Adversity has drawn.
Them closer still.
“In the past three months.
I think I started to even love him more.”
She says with a laugh.
“Because he gave me.
So much motivation.
So much inspiration”.
The couple want to show.
That life goes on after life-changing injuries.
“We will do everything possible.
To deal with it.”
“And with our example.
To show everyone.
That everything is possible”.
She says with a laugh.
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
He was an unlikely soldier.
A financial consultant and self-confessed nerd.
Who sang in church.
And liked to talk about philosophy.
But he volunteered soon after.
‘Orcs’ full-scale invasion in February 2022.
For him it was a battle of.
Good versus evil, “a war of values”.
Now his battle is in the gym.
Where he trains two hours a day.
Rebuilding his strength.
And working on his balance.
And he has taken on.
A new mission.
To help those.
Who may come after him.
“Ukraine has never had.
Such a big number of amputees.
And people blinded.
By the war.”
“Our medical system.
Is not ready in some ways.
Some veterans come in.
With really complex cases.”
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
He’s battling on, surprising doctors.
They didn’t think he could walk.
With a white stick.
Because he couldn’t hold it.
But he found a way.
By clenching the cord.
At the top of the stick.
Between his teeth.
His voice is getting stronger.
He hopes he will be able to.
Sing in church again.
And return to the mountains with her.
She dreams that new technology.
Will restore his sight one day.
“I also hope for some kids.
And for our house in a peaceful Ukraine”.
She is trying to arrange treatment abroad.
Possibly in the United States.
Where specialists have more experience.
With complex needs like her husband’s.
‘Orcs’ war is creating.
An army of amputees here.
A conveyor belt.
Of broken bodies.
What is the hardest thing now?
It was not his injuries.
He says, but that he did not get to finish.
What he started and win the war.
Outside the clinic.
A few of his fellow patients.
Gather to smoke and.
Share stories of the trenches.
All have lost legs.
Their wheelchairs form a sunlit semi-circle.
One says the government is downplaying.
The number of amputees.
“There are at least.
Three times as many as they say.”
He insists.
“They want to hide us away.”
“They don’t want people to know.
How many there really are.
They are worried about getting people.
To join up and fight.”
He still gets a small salary.
From the military.
“Enough for eight packets of cigarettes.”
He says with a bitter laugh.
*Because I read “Where Ukraine’s army of amputees go to repair their lives” by Orla Guerin on 21 Sep 2023, and also “Why are Ukrainians calling Russians ‘orcs’?” by James FitzGerald on 30 Apr 2022, on the BBC news.
So, I wrote this poem as a story of Andrii and Alina, and a story of his fellow patients.
Please read the original story on the BBC news:
Where Ukraine’s army of amputees go to repair their lives – BBC News
**My friend shows you this poem with another poem on the Ukrainian website for their children and others!
Please join them!
