Due to an extremely severe open fracture with a massive defect of the soft tissues of the lower leg, the patient – 25-year-old police officer Olga Bryndas had direct indications for amputation.
But the surgeons of the Saint Panteleimon Hospital, who during the full-scale invasion faced more serious war injuries, saved the limb by performing an extremely complex reconstructive operation.
Olga Bryndas is a 25-year-old police officer from the city of Yavoriv, Lviv region. On the afternoon of May 29, she was on duty, just leaving the city council premises, when suddenly an SUV pulled onto the sidewalk and ran straight into Olga. Later it will be found out that the driver was drunk.
“I open the door – and immediately the car flies into me. Everything happened in a second. At that moment, I felt intense fear and thought about my child,” the young policewoman shares her memories of the scariest day in her life.
Olga was rushed by ambulance from Yavorov to Lviv, to the hospital of St. Panteleimon. The condition was extremely serious: massive blood loss, an open fracture of the tibia, three hip fractures, trauma to the soft tissues of the face and chest. But the worst situation was with the leg. Due to a very severe open fracture with a massive defect of the soft tissues of the lower leg, the patient had direct indications for amputation. But hospital surgeons decided to try to save the limb. The operation lasted for 15 hours.
“In order to save the patient’s leg, we used a modern technique, namely the transplantation of her own soft tissues from another part of the body. We managed to transplant the mass of tissues necessary to close the defect and restore the integrity of the tibia,” Hnat Gerych, head of Department No. 1 of the Surgery and Oncology Center of the St. Panteleimon Hospital, tells about the complex reconstructive operation.
The doctor’s team did manage to save the policewoman’s leg. But there was still a long recovery ahead.
“It was so difficult and painful for me to even just lie down. In addition, I could not move for the first 6 weeks so that the pelvis could grow. Then I dreamed of even sitting down and was very afraid that I would never be able to walk again,” says Olga about her condition after a complex operation.
It was difficult, but in the second month after the accident, thanks to daily work with physical therapists, the policewoman started walking on crutches.
“She is a very purposeful and motivated woman. In such a short period of time, after severe combined injuries, she is already walking and, finally, can return to her life and to her daughter,” physical therapist Lev Shpunt tells about the patient’s rehabilitation.
Today Olga is at home with her family. She enjoys spending time with her 5-year-old daughter and her beloved husband, and is once again a law enforcement officer. The policewoman often thinks that her child could have been left without a mother, so she urges all drivers not to get behind the wheel while intoxicated.” And she is infinitely grateful to the Lviv doctors for the opportunity to live a full life.