Soldier Oleksandr Korobchuk, callsign MYSLYVETS

My name is Oleksandr Korobchuk, I am a sergeant in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, section commander of the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade. My callsign is MYSLYVETS. In March 2022, I voluntarily joined the army, despite having a legal right to deferment. I have five children. At that time, my eldest was 9, and my youngest daughter was just 9 months old. But I couldn’t stay at home knowing the enemy threatened my family.

After a week of training, we were sent to the Donetsk direction. May 2, 2022 — a day I will remember forever. During an offensive near the village of Prechystivka, we got into a heavy battle. When our commander, callsign MATVIY, was wounded, I gave him aid and then returned to my position. But the enemy began mortar shelling. One of the shells exploded very close. I fell. A spinal injury. Pain, loss of movement. I was still conscious and shouted to my comrades not to come near me — so as not to endanger them.

Then came the military ambulance. Along with several other wounded, I was taken to the hospital in Kurakhove, where they urgently performed the first surgery — surgeons removed part of my small intestine because shrapnel had torn my internal organs. After stabilizing my condition, I was immediately evacuated to Dnipro, to the renowned Mechnikov Hospital, where the most severely wounded are taken. There, I lost consciousness several times and fell into a coma. But the doctors fought, and they performed another complex spinal surgery, removing shrapnel that had pierced my spinal cord. That was what caused the paralysis of the lower part of my body.

When my condition allowed, I was transferred to Khmelnytskyi Regional Hospital. There, I underwent a third operation — to stabilize my spine and ease further recovery. I couldn’t move; my body from the waist down felt foreign. Every morning started with pain, and ended with pain.

After the regional hospital, I was transferred to Khmelnytskyi Military Hospital, where I underwent my first rehabilitation course. Step by step, through incredible pain, I learned to control at least some movements again, to fight spasms, to find balance in this new body.

Later — Rivne Military Hospital. I spent over half a year there, undergoing more rehabilitation courses, physiotherapy, and treatment for accompanying complications. I managed to regain some strength, and then the Ministry of Health gave me a referral for specialized rehabilitation in Latvia.

Three months in Latvia — another difficult but important stage. They worked with my body, nervous system, with the pain. And although I returned in a wheelchair, I had hope that there would still be a chance ahead — a chance not just to survive, but to live, to live actively.

After returning, we were taken to Lviv to undergo the military medical commission, where I was officially assigned disability group 1.

More than two years of struggle. Three surgeries, endless rehabilitation, hospital wards, a wheelchair, loss of control over my body…

But the worst part — is the pain.

It doesn’t let up. It seizes my body, tortures me day and night. Spasms that make life unbearable — excruciating, hellish. On the pain scale — 10 out of 10. Neither traditional medicine nor injections help.

But there is hope. A high-tech method — implantation of an electrode into the spinal canal, which will help block these pain signals. This is neuromodulation — a chance to reduce or completely eliminate the pain, to regain some control over my body, over my life.

Professor Vitaliy Biloshytskyi, a neurosurgeon who specializes in such complex cases, is ready to perform the operation. His team is the only one in Ukraine with experience in implanting modern neurostimulators. But the implant and the procedure itself are expensive. For my family, who has been fighting alongside me all these years, this amount is impossible. So I am forced to ask for help.

I dream of breathing without pain, of being able to hug my children without fear of a paralyzing spasm.

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The fundraiser for implanting an electrode into the spinal canal for severely wounded defender Oleksandr is SUCCESSFULLY CLOSED!

Thanks to each of you — who donated, shared, or wrote words of support — the bill has already been paid, and the long-awaited surgery will take place very soon. This is a step toward reducing constant pain and returning to an active life after a terrible injury.

Special thanks to the platforms @shafaua and @volonter.by.prom for your compassion, trust, and tremendous support. It’s thanks to such initiatives that miracles happen. You didn’t just contribute — you helped ensure that even more people learned about Oleksandr, and that made a real difference.

Ahead lies an important recovery period. But with such support — anything is possible.

 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 112,050