A 59-year-old defender from Prykarpattia is recovering in the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center. He suffered two heart attacks and two strokes. Physiotherapists, occupational therapists and a psychologist work with him now.
59-year-old Ivan Golyuka is from Kolomyia, in the Carpathian region. There, he worked for about 20 years in law enforcement agencies, after which he headed the regional rehabilitation center for law enforcement officers. With the beginning of a full-scale invasion, he joined the local Terrodefense. And already in two months he served in Donetsk region, where he became the deputy combatant for moral and psychological support: he had to support the fighting spirit of the soldiers and transport the bodies of those who died on the battlefield.
“Helping to calm down and survive the loss of brothers – all this was passed through me. But the most difficult thing was to look into the mother’s eyes and say that her son is at home… forever,” says Major Ivan Golyuka about the most difficult part of his service. After all, he experienced the loss of each soldier as a personal one. Over time, it became difficult for the man not only in his soul, but also in his heart. He, who lived an active life and never had health problems, began to feel burning pains in the area of the heart. But it wasn’t like that on the front line. So I got examined only a few months later, when things got really bad.
In Zaporizhzhia, the officer was diagnosed with a heart attack. In addition, repeated. And this means that he carried the first one on his feet. He was immediately operated on. To restore blood flow in the damaged area of the heart, a stent was installed. But this turned out to be not enough. At that time, the defender’s vessels were also affected by the disease, so doctors from Zaporizhzhia sent the patient to Kyiv for another operation – coronary artery bypass grafting. After the intervention, Ivan was sent to Lviv, to the NEZLAMNI center.
On the first night, the defender’s blood pressure rose, the right half of his body weakened, so the doctors suspected a stroke. On a CT scan, radiologists confirmed the diagnosis: the patient had an ischemic stroke. In addition, the examination revealed another previously suffered stroke. The intracerebral hemorrhage was already at the stage of resolution. His major was probably transferred immediately after heart surgery.
“Such strokes usually occur as a complication after surgical interventions. That is why, as the soldier told us, he felt and still sometimes feels one-sided numbness in his limbs. But the second stroke passed much easier. Problems with speech and coordination of movements lasted only a few hours. The patient received medical treatment on time and he has no neurological deficit,” explains cardiologist and physical rehabilitation medicine doctor Hanna Bordyuzhenko.
The patient is now recovering and feeling better. Physiotherapists, occupational therapists and a psychologist work with him. The soldier himself is not only trying to regain his strength, but also to find himself. He is oppressed by the thought that he is not with his soldiers. “I was in my place there. It was not easy, but I knew what I was doing and why. And here we still need to understand: where are you, who are you and in what status”, – shares the pained defender. He says that if his health permits, he will continue his service. Because being there is his mission.