Unbreakable 12-year-old Ukrainian Yana Stepanenko, who lost both legs in a rocket attack on the train station in Kramatorsk, will take part in the Boston Marathon
On April 13, the girl will run on prostheses to fulfill the defender’s dream and demonstrate to the world the invincibility of the Ukrainian people. This was reported by the First Medical Association of Lviv.
Yana’s goal in Boston is charitable. It is to raise money for a sports prosthesis for a severely wounded defender, a patient of UNBROKEN Ukraine, who lost his limb in the war. The girl wants him to be able to run like her. This initiative was supported by the charity platform dobro.ua, together with which we are implementing the project “Unbreakable Yana runs for the sake of a defender”.
Oleksandr Ryasnyi has been serving since 2011, the year Yana was born. He is from Zaporizhzhia. He was in the ATO, then in the JFO, and then a full-scale war. He was defending his native Zaporizhzhia area when a shell exploded near him last September. He lost his right leg. Now he is learning to use a conventional prosthesis, plans to return to service and dreams of running.
For two months, Yana has been intensely preparing for the Boston Marathon. She trains four times a week. Twice at the UNBROKEN Center with a physical therapist and twice more on the bike track and at the stadium with professional coaches from the PROBIG running club.
By participating in the world-famous marathon, the young Ukrainian wants to remind the world that the war in her country continues, children and adults continue to suffer and die, thousands of lives are maimed and the number of people with amputations is growing every day. But despite all this, Ukrainians remain unbreakable.
Yana Stepanenko was invited to participate in the Boston Marathon by the American foundation One World Strong Foundation, which helps veterans and civilians affected by terrorist attacks and military operations.
You can support Yana in her goal here: https://dobro.ua/project/nezlamni_boston/