Oleksandr Ryasnyi, a 30-year-old defender who lost his leg in the war, and 13-year-old Yana Stepanenko, a girl who was injured in an attack on Kramatorsk railway station 2.5 years ago, and this year became a star of the Boston Marathon and raised money for a running prosthesis for the soldier. And the dream came true – they ran together on prostheses.
This was reported by the press service of the First Lviv Military Medical Unit.
Oleksandr Ryasnyi, a lieutenant colonel and current deputy commander of the Kara-Dag National Guard Brigade, chose the military career when he was 18. He went through everything from the ATO to a full-scale invasion. Last September, the defender was wounded and lost his leg. After rehabilitation and prosthetics at the UNBROKEN centre, he returned to service for the sake of his son.
“I don’t want him to continue fighting when he grows up. Let it end with me, our generations, and I don’t want to pass this war on to the future. I started the war in 2014. Now those boys who were still at school are already fighting and, unfortunately, dying in this war. I don’t want to pass this war on,” the lieutenant colonel emphasises. Also, for the sake of his son, Oleksandr wants not only to walk again, but also to run. To do this, he needs an expensive sports prosthesis. He said: “My son is growing up. I would like to go to the stadium somewhere, to run somewhere with my child. He is so active, he loves to run, he loves activity. And a sports prosthesis would give me more freedom of movement and movement.”
Yana Stepanenko, a patient and ambassador of the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Centre, stepped in to help the defender make his dream come true. She lost both her legs as a result of a rocket attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk and has overcome a long way of treatment, rehabilitation and prosthetics. And now she not only walks skilfully on prostheses, but also runs.
For Oleksandr’s sake, Yana volunteered to take part in the Boston Marathon in the spring. She managed to cover 5 km, winning the hearts of the fans and raising the necessary amount of money for a running prosthesis for the Ukrainian soldier.
And six months later, Oleksandr was released from the frontline for a few days to the UNBROKEN centre, where prosthetists were waiting for him. They made a new knee brace for the soldier along with a running foot.
After fitting and testing the sports prosthesis, the defender went to the Lviv cycle track, where Yana was waiting for him to give a master class on running on the prosthesis. Together they covered the first distance for Oleksandr. At the end of the joint training, the warrior made the following promise to the girl: “I’ll start with a hundred metres, then a kilometre, then three. Well, I think that maybe after a while it will be five. But we need to train before that and add more effort to our victory, so that we can run smoothly afterwards.”
Now the defender is back at the front, where he continues to fight for the future of his son, Yana and all Ukrainian children.
For reference.
The National Rehabilitation Centre UNBROKEN is a unique place where adults and children affected by Russian aggression receive comprehensive care. This includes reconstructive surgery, orthopaedics and prosthetics. The injured are not only fitted with prostheses, but they are also manufactured here. The wounded also receive physical, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery under the guidance of specialists. All care is provided free of charge. The centre was opened in April 2023.
A 1,000-square-metre international prosthetics and orthotics centre was opened on 10 May 2024 at the UNBROKEN centre with the support of the German government. It will be able to manufacture more than a thousand prostheses a year, train future prosthetists and conduct research and development.