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Once «fixed», return to the battle
In May 2022, on the battlefield, Lviv serviceman Serhii suffered a concussion, injuries to internal organs and severely broken leg bones. Initially, all medical care was provided to the soldier in Kryvyi Rih, and when the condition stabilized, he was transported to Lviv. The man has already undergone two operations on his leg, Ilizarov’s device was installed, third operation and lengthy rehabilitation are still ahead. Nevertheless, Serhii’s family is already looking for at least a few days of courses or a rehabilitation program, although the military man himself says that as soon as the wounds heal, he will return to the front.
«My son will need rehabilitation, doctors say. Rehabilitation specialists came to the ward several times in the hospital, but all they said was how to develop the second leg so that there would be no swelling, how to get out of bed or chair, and so on. Then, Serhii will need a strong rehabilitation. I don’t know where and when we will be able to undergo it. There are a lot of wounded. We’ve learned that the boys were going to the rehabilitation hospital in Vynnyky, Truskavets or Drohobych, but everything was arranged in queues. That is, we were told to stand in line and wait, however, it is unknown how long – maybe a few months, maybe six months or even a year,»- says Serhii’s mother, Mrs. Halyna.
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The husband of Lviv resident Olena Bovt has been at the front almost since the beginning of the war. He was wounded several times, but not severely, the wife says. Hence, after «fixing», he went to war again.
«Only the seriously injured and the sick need rehabilitation. Those whose arms and legs are intact go to the front almost immediately. My husband spent only a few days in a military hospital after being wounded. Of course, we did not pay for any medicines, examinations, or tests: the state provided everything. After that, the man was offered to the hospital, and from there sent to Truskavets for rehabilitation. However, he didn’t want to. I know that there were guys in the ward with him who would definitely need rehabilitation. For example, one of them had his arm torn off and the skin on his face transplanted,» – the woman said.
Rehabilitation needed, but no places left?
At present, it’s possible to rehabilitate a serviceman who was wounded in the fighting. There are appropriate beds and specialists for this, officials and doctors say. Beds or entire departments are offered, in particular, in St. Panteleimon Hospital, St. Luke’s Hospital, Lviv Military Hospital, Regional Hospital for War Veterans and Repressed named after Yurii Lypa, all of these in Lviv, as well as in hospitals and sanatoriums in Sosnivka, Truskavets, Drohobych. It wasn’t possible to find out exactly how many places there are for rehabilitation, because this information was closed during the war.
Rehabilitation in these medical institutions can be done with various injuries, but the most difficult is damage to the central nervous system, neuro- or brain injury. Rehabilitation after such injuries is the longest.
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Volunteer Natalia Arestova, who has been helping severely wounded servicemen at the Lviv Military Hospital for nine years, told us that there are many fighters who have suffered spinal cord injuries, severe head injuries, and there are few places for their rehabilitation.
«The boys first require long-term treatment in specialized clinics with highly qualified and trained staff, and then long-term rehabilitation in specialized centres, where there are not only staff but also appropriate conditions – barrier-free environment, appropriate furniture and equipment. Still, during the war, military medicine managed to open as many as one rehabilitation department with 20 beds for patients with nervous system damage. It operates in the Lviv Military Hospital. And this is for the whole of Ukraine!
In the system of hospitals for veterans, there is only one neuro-rehabilitation centre with 50 beds. This is obviously catastrophically small,» – she said.
According to the volunteer, it’s important not to abandon neurotrauma, bedsores can occur, neglected conditions and contractures can begin. Therefore, it would be worthwhile to expand the rehabilitation department or open new ones. The fact that the «Modrychi» Rehabilitation Center and the Kozyavkin International Rehabilitation Clinic are currently operating does not save the situation, as they are private and have to pay for all services themselves.
«My view is that the existing base should be immediately supplemented with rehabilitation specialists and the department should be expanded. This could be at least a temporary solution. At the same time, it would be worth opening rehabilitation departments for the treatment of neurotrauma in other city or regional medical institutions. It may be a cry of the soul, but in the last week, I have been approached personally by a dozen relatives of the seriously injured, who are looking for tips, advice on what to do and where to call for rehabilitation. And I don’t know what to say to them…» – the interlocutor complains.
If the opening of rehabilitation departments or centres is not started immediately, in a few months, according to Natalia Arestova, there will be many who won’t be able to serve in the military due to severe disability injuries.
«If the boys are not rehabilitated, all the problems will fall on the shoulders of their families. All this will result in negative social consequences: the military will be sick and incapacitated, and their families will not be financially secure,» – she said.
Artur Kyreev, a senior lieutenant in the Armed Forces’ engineering troops, a staff officer, and now a volunteer, went through the war, wounds, treatment, and long-term rehabilitation. He got into the war from the very beginning, in 2014. In November 2015, as a result of enemy mortar fire, he was severely wounded during the installation of mine barriers to protect the positions of our troops near the Butivka mine. Then, there were years of treatment in various hospitals and rehabilitation centres in Dnipro, Kyiv and other cities. And it was in Lviv that doctors managed to save Artur’s arm, although there was a real threat of amputation. But due to a severe spinal injury, the man does not walk, forced to move in a wheelchair.
Arthur says that rehabilitation is becoming more and more difficult and expensive for him. Funds allocated for this purpose once a year, which is about 50 thousand hryvnias for a disabled person of group I, should be spent in the rehabilitation centre.
«Virtually every ward of the military hospital has beds for rehabilitation. But this is for those undergoing treatment at this time. As such, we have few rehabilitation centres, a couple of them in Lviv and the region. There are a few more private ones, but the prices are high. Normal rehabilitation will cost about three thousand hryvnias a day, so the 50,000 allocated by the state, depending on the services, may be enough for two weeks of rehabilitation. Sometimes even at a discount,» – Artur Kyreev says.
Artur Kyreev did not count how much of his own money he had already spent on rehabilitation, but admits it was a lot. In addition, a fighter who is seriously injured must be rehabilitated at home, but all devices cost a few thousand dollars each.
«The most difficult patients are treated and rehabilitated at the Lviv Military Hospital. Those who received minor injuries can be sent to other hospitals or sanatoriums,» – Artur Kyreev continued, emphasizing that before the new rehabilitation centre is opened, those that already exist should work at maximum capacity.
What protection does the state provide?
According to Yulia Tarasiuk, head of the Department of Social Protection of ATO/OOS and the Revolution of Dignity of the Lviv Regional State Administration, there are two laws in Ukraine according to which servicemen or veterans enjoy benefits at state, regional and local levels. These are the law «On social and legal protection of servicemen and members of their families» and the law «On the status of war veterans, guarantees of their social protection».
Under these laws, combatants or persons with disabilities as a result of war are entitled to benefits. It includes compensation for housing and communal services (for combatants it is 75% of the norm, and for people with disabilities caused by the war – 100% of the norm – Ed.), the opportunity to use a voucher for a spa treatment, as well as social and professional adaptation services, i.e. retraining and acquiring a new speciality. There are also measures of psychological rehabilitation.
With regard to cash benefits, one-time cash benefits, pensions, and other financial assistance are provided for persons with disabilities as a result of the war. They also must be provided with medicines, technical means, medical, social, labour and professional rehabilitation services, the household and trade services.
«Those who receive group I disability will be paid 400 subsistence minimums, group II – 300 subsistence minimums, group III – 250 subsistence minimums. This is one-time assistance in establishing disability due to injury, contusion, mutilation or illness related to the defense of the Motherland,» – Yulia Tarasyuk explains.
According to her, for people with disabilities, sanatorium and resort vouchers should be annual, as well as for participants in hostilities, but here everything depends on queue: there can be one permit for two years. At the same time, the applicants themselves can determine the institution where they prefer to recover.
Persons with disabilities caused by the war have their pensions, monthly lifetime allowances or state social assistance increased: for group I it will reach 50% of the subsistence level for persons with disabilities, for group II – 40% of the subsistence level for persons who lost their ability to work, for group III – 30% of the subsistence level for people who lost their ability to work.
What rehabilitation establishments already exist and are new ones needed?
As pointed out by Valerii Veremchuk, the head of the Lviv City Council medical commission, there are departments for the rehabilitation of the wounded in Lviv hospitals, each of which has its own profile. They are open in military medical institutions, several Lviv hospitals, and even clinics. But as the current war has become more aggressive, the need to create a new rehabilitation centre is very timely.
«In previous years, the war was different than today. The scale, number of bombings and wounds were different. Therefore, the need for rehabilitation has increased many times. Many hospitals that used to work in other cities where the fighting is going on cannot function, so those who will come to us from there need to be rehabilitated,» – Valerii Veremchuk explains.
As gradually more soldiers and civilians suffer the injuries as a result of the war, Anna Yarmola, the head of the ENT Commission for Health and Maternity, also speaks about the need to create a new rehabilitation centre:
«War is first and foremost stress and injury. And if there is a concussion, physical loss, after which a person loses the ability to move, you need to learn to live with it. Not all returning boys are immediately aware of what happened to them. There are also families who have lost a breadwinner, brother, father, or husband, and they will also need help. To do this, they will create a rehabilitation centre that will help the military, members of their families, and other Ukrainians who were injured in the war.»
Today, she says, Ukrainians are already undergoing rehabilitation in hospitals and sanatoriums. There are also some agreements with countries that are ready to help our military.
Valerii Veremchuk believes that doctors from Germany, Israel, Poland and France are vying to treat and rehabilitate our soldiers.
As for the Lviv region, negotiations are already underway so that the military, who suffered injuries and wounds, as well as their families can be rehabilitated in the resorts and sanatoriums of Morshyn and Truskavets.
«There are powerful resorts in the Lviv region that have a large medical base. In the first months of the full-scale war, they were fully loaded as people sought refuge. Now, people are either going abroad or returning home, and the resorts are empty. On June 1, some institutions in Truskavets began to close, and there is a threat that they may not resume work at all. To prevent this from happening, our goal is to offer the Lviv region and its resorts as places for rehabilitation,» – Oleksandr Kulepin, deputy head of Lviv regional state administration, told Lviv Now.
However, it’s unknown who will finance it. According to Oleksandr Kulepin, the funds should be found in the state budget, because everything should be free for the military and civilians who suffered injuries or wounds during the war and need rehabilitation.
«Settlement for a long time is an ineffective policy, because resorts will begin to decline. Most likely, these will be short-term, 14- or 21-day rehabilitation or acclimatization programs. But the rehabilitation will affect the whole family,» – he said.
At present, such a model is not ready, so it’s unknown when it will work out. The phase of finding beds in resorts and coordination with the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Veterans and the Ministry of Integration is underway. It is planned that up to 10,000 people will be able to undergo rehabilitation at resorts and sanatoriums at the same time during a month.
Photos from open sources
Olha Shveda, translated by Vitalii Holich
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