A 45-year-old librarian from Avdiivka lost her leg as a result of a Russian rocket hitting the city. Now the woman is preparing for prosthetics in Lviv, at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center.
Yana Kovalyova was born and lived all her life in Donetsk region, in her native Avdiivka, which the enemy is now erasing from the face of the earth. She worked in a local library. A year ago, the occupiers ransacked the library, and all the books dear to Yana’s heart were burned. That woman still remained in the city. She did not leave him then, and a year later, when the enemy threw all his forces into the capture of Avdiivka. Only a serious wound forced the woman to leave the city.
On October 21, Yana woke up and went out into the yard. He remembers that it was quiet. And then suddenly – a powerful explosion. “I was turned around by the blast wave. I felt that my leg was burning. I look down and see that the leg is literally crushed,” Yana says.
The woman managed to survive only thanks to the neighbors, who also did not evacuate in time and had a car. They took her to the nearest hospital in Pokrovsk. If it weren’t for the neighbors, Yana would have died on the spot from massive blood loss.
The leg could not be saved, and the woman’s limb was amputated right in the hospital in Donetsk region. When Yana woke up after the operation, she could not believe that her leg was gone.
When Yana’s condition was stabilized, she was evacuated to Lviv, to the NEZLAMNI center.
“Physical therapists immediately started treating me here. Before Lviv, I did not get out of bed. At first, I was afraid to trip even on crutches – not the same as walking up the stairs. But with each class, I feel more and more confident,” Yana says about the rehabilitation at the center.
Thanks to the support of relatives and friends, the woman finds the strength to live on and move forward. But she is most motivated by the soldiers she sees here and with whom she recovers after being wounded.
Yana is currently waiting for the stump to heal completely in order to proceed to the next stage – prosthetics. The woman dreams that one day she will be able to return to her hometown and work there as a librarian. But for now he is making more comprehensive plans: to stand on an artificial limb and master it well enough to be able to get on a bike again. Because he cannot imagine himself without driving this vehicle.
Hundreds of people suffer every day due to Russian aggression, so in order to make their treatment and rehabilitation comfortable and accessible in Ukraine, in Lviv, at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center, a multidisciplinary team works with every Ukrainian, providing surgical, physical, psychological and psychosocial professional assistance . Thanks to the support of donors, a prosthetics workshop was opened and bionic prostheses are installed, as well as a new modern rehabilitation building: it is 7 floors with the most modern rehabilitation equipment. Every year, 10,000 Ukrainians will be able to receive help here.