Soldier Oleksandr Vykhruk. Long-term care special project
Oleksandr Vykhruk, born in 1980. On 30 October 2019, he signed a contract and began service with the 10th Mountain Assault Brigade.
Four years earlier, he worked abroad and earned enough money to provide for his family. However, the situation in eastern Ukraine forced him to return home and join the military, as his greatest wish was for his wife and children to have a happy future in a free and independent Ukraine.
His decision to join the military was a well-considered one. However, his family did not even know that Oleksandr was determined to join the Armed Forces. So, upon returning to Ukraine, he simply went to the military enlistment office, had an examination and signed a contract.
He received his first concussion on 3rd December, as a result of which he lost his hearing. But after being treated, he returned to his comrades in arms to stop the russian barbarians who were tearing Ukraine apart.
On 27 March 2023, he was seriously wounded near the village of Berestove, Donetsk region.
On that day, Oleksandr and his comrades rushed to the aid of a unit that was surrounded. The guys were running out of ammunition, almost all of them were wounded, and the enemy was approaching. Therefore, Oleksandr and his comrades made a desperate raid, but the occupiers did not plan to surrender either, and Oleksandr received severe injuries to his arms and legs in the battle.
His comrades put on tourniquets onto his three limbs on the spot. Due to constant mortar and artillery shelling, it was not possible to immediately evacuate the wounded. They received primary medical care only a few hours later in Sloviansk, after which they were sent to the Mechnikov Hospital in the city of Dnipro where his limbs were amputated.
On 3rd April 2023, he was transported by helicopter to the Kyiv hospital. Oleksandr was in a medically induced coma for more than a month.
He regained consciousness in early May and saw the consequences of his injury.
He was in pain, despair, full of bitterness and deep sadness.
He spent four months in intensive care: he suffered two cardiac arrests, a stroke, and kidney failure. Most civilian medical facilities did not have the courage to treat him. They said that with such a course of the condition and complex injuries, people simply do not survive. But his loving wife Olia was by his side all the time. She believed in a miracle, in the power of love.
And this miracle happened!
Not only did Oleksandr regain consciousness, he retained his identity and the will to live on. Now he is undergoing complex rehabilitation, preparing for prosthetics of his upper limbs.
The Citizen Charitable Foundation is in constant contact with the Vykhruk family. It provides step by step assistance to the Hero.
The first step was purchasing a wheelchair that is controlled by the chin. Oleksandr quickly mastered it, he is moving freely around the hospital and going for strolls outdoors.
TRANSFERRED: UAH 102,600
However, the capabilities of this wheelchair are no longer enough for all his needs. This wheelchair is ideal for indoor use, but a more powerful device is required for the outdoors.
Therefore, the next step is to purchase a Meyra iChair MC2 wheelchair, which will help Oleksandr feel independent and mobile not only indoors but also outdoors.
This model has a more powerful off-road capability, higher speed, and a longer operating range. The pneumatics of the wheelchair allow a person to move comfortably and conveniently on uneven surfaces and overcome small obstacles. It is safe (it won't roll over), so a person doesn't need someone else to keep them safe while the person is on the move.
And most importantly, Meyra iChair MC2 allows for head and joystick control. Joystick control will come in handy after upper limb prosthetics.
From there, it's our job to be there for Oleksandr, to engage specialists, to help him find the most effective solutions, in a comprehensive manner, step by step…
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For Oleksandr, the Citizen's Fund paid for a new ICHAIR MC2 1.611 wheelchair complete with a VIC controller that allows the chair to be controlled by the head. Due to changes in the exchange rate, the total cost of the wheelchair (UAH 637,550) has been increased.
We are waiting for the delivery of the wheelchair from Germany.
COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: 650 000 UAH
Oleksandr's recovery process is very long lasting. At this stage, specialists have restored the functions of the lower limb, which were lost after the injury and strokes. His overall physical condition has improved.
Now the prosthetics of the lower limb has begun. Oleksandr is already learning to walk on a training prosthesis.
But there is still a lot of work ahead. Doctors, rehabilitologists, physical therapists and massage therapists of the Kyiv Institute of Rehabilitation are doing their best to bring Oleksandr back to an independent active life. The cost of the next stage of rehabilitation is UAH 102,000.
COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: UAH 102,000
We thank the Ukrainian Initiative group in Leipzig, Germany, for their financial support.
To ensure comfortable and safe use of the wheelchair, we provided Oleksandr with a seat cushion, side supports, and a belt.
COLLECTED AND TRANSFERRED: 21,926.59 UAH
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