Soldier Serhii Bilash, call sign MARK

I am Liudmyla — the wife of defender Bilash Serhii Petrovych, call sign MARK. My husband was born on December 21, 1972. He worked as an investigator for the tax service and held the rank of lieutenant colonel. He loved reading philosophy — Plato, Nietzsche, Aristotle, Roerich, and was passionate about Franko. He constantly engaged in sports and held a black belt in karate. Helping friends always came first for him, while he always put himself in the background.

Having a good job, at the beginning of 2015 he took his own initiative to participate in the ATO. At the time he said: “If they are not stopped there, they will come here.” During 2015–2020, Serhii participated in the ATO and JFO. In 2022, a Medical and Social Expert Commission recognized him as a person with a Group 2 disability for life, connected to the defense of the Homeland.

In the first days of the full-scale invasion, despite his state of health, he said: “Am I going to sit at home while the children go to war?” After that, he approached the TCC and insisted that he be called up to defend the country. On February 26, 2022, he was mobilized into military unit A3013. He had the call sign MARK, was a regular soldier, an anti-aircraft gunner, and defended the airspace of Khmelnytsk Oblast. He destroyed enemy aerial targets that constantly flew in our direction.

On January 25, 2024, while on combat duty, Serhii lost consciousness and fell into a coma. His fellow soldiers provided first aid and, with the permission of command, delivered him to a hospital. From there he was immediately transferred to a regional hospital, where emergency surgery was performed. The surgery was successful, however the doctors gave no chances — the hematoma was too large. Every possible option for saving him was sought. They wanted to transport him to a more specialized medical facility, but Serhii was in critical condition and could not be transported.

The doctors said: 3 days, then 5–7–10 — however long the body could hold out. They also warned that even if he survived, there would be many consequential illnesses ahead that would have to be fought. Recovery was not spoken of at all at that point.

I was told words I will never forget: “Someone may survive in such cases, but not in Ukraine.”

For a whole month, Serhii remained in the intensive care unit in a coma, almost the entire time with a temperature above 40°C, periodically connected to a ventilator. When his condition stabilized slightly, on February 23, 2024, he was transported by ambulance — with a feeding tube, a tracheostomy, in a semi-conscious state and with a fever — to the “Modrichi” rehabilitation center, where he spent another month in intensive care, followed by 2 months of rehabilitation. And all of this at their own expense.

In May 2024, Serhii was brought back to Khmelnytskyi for a second surgery, after which there were another 3 months of rehabilitation in the hospital. Following a Military Medical Commission examination, he was discharged from service. Serhii currently has a Group 1 disability and requires constant outside care.

But he is, by nature, a fighter for justice. And now he is fighting not merely for existence — but for life. There has not been a single day that he has not trained — in specialized facilities or at home. And he has already achieved tremendous results that no one could have even imagined. Serhii was bedridden. Then he moved in a wheelchair. Today he already walks independently with a cane.

For more than half a year he did not speak. Thanks to speech therapists, his speech is gradually recovering. We are relearning letters, colors, and objects — and there are results. Work must continue.

Serhii always says: “I will keep doing it and maybe it will get even better.”

Friends take him to karate training. He loves socializing and communication very much, and has great hopes for improvements in walking, the restoration of speech, arm movement, and cognitive functions.
Right now Serhii is in great need of specialized rehabilitation at the “Western Rehabilitation and Sports Center” of the NCSPI. This is a chance to continue his recovery and return to the fullest possible life. He will keep moving forward to the very end, in order to live a full life. And I will always be by his side.

 

COLLECTING: UAH 90,000