Soldier Oleh Ardeli, call sign ARA

In August 2022, I received a call-up and immediately started serving. I joined the newly formed 66th Brigade, as a rifleman in the unit.

Our unit was located in the village of Shchurove, and from there we went to recapture the city of Lyman. After that, we were transferred to Nevske in Donetsk region to liberate the village of Makiivka. We were already in a green bushy area near the designated settlement, when we got hit by artillery fire. And during this shelling, I received a shrapnel wound to my right upper limb.

After the hit, I got an intense burning sensation in my right arm. My comrade put a tourniquet on it, and together with three comrades we went to the evacuation point. All the way and at the specified point, we were under mortar fire.

I was quickly taken away by an evacuation vehicle. They took me to Lyman, from there I was transported to Dnipro, and then I got to Lviv.

Doctors diagnosed me with a gunshot shrapnel wound to the right shoulder with a gunshot multifragment fracture of the humerus with damage to the brachial artery. I was treated in a hospital, and now I need rehabilitation because of contractures in the elbow and fingers of my right hand. According to experts, my arm will recover, but it will no longer work 100%, it will be like an auxiliary arm. I will have two "left arms" for sure). 

Currently, I need to recover at the Zakhidnyi Rehabilitation and Sports Centre of the National Committee for Sports for the Disabled People of Ukraine.

I dream of recovering as soon as possible and returning to my newborn daughter, taking her in my arms and enjoying my long-awaited parenthood.
 

COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 90,000