Three years of treatment; the injured leg is being fixed by so much metal it would be enough to forge a small sword out of it – despite all this he is shining with joy and smiles happily. This is Mr Oleh, and within the «Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded» project we are growing up a new hip for him. It was in May that we met him for the last time: then the doctors of the Project dissected his newly reconstructed bone and mounted the Ilizarov apparatus onto it, to stretch it up to four centimeters in length by means of a traditional method, osteosynthesis. Today Mr Oleh has come for a regular check-up cherishing hope that the apparatus may be removed. Still, alas: in spite of the fact that the bone has been stretched to the necessary length, the fresh bone tissue is still getting hardened, so he will need to wear the apparatus for another two or three months, approximately until February.
Mr Oleh has been suffering from the injury to his leg for the fourth consecutive year in a row. He got severely wounded in the summer of 2014, near Ilovaisk where he fought with the Donbas battalion. The enemy sniper bullet hit him on the hip having almost entirely destroyed it. One of the possible solutions was to cut the leg off as the cumulative defect of the bone reached over fourteen centimeters in length. Still the doctors tried to fuse the bone up from numerous fragments; they even transplanted the fragment of Mr Oleh’s own bone into the injured area. Nine months of waiting passed in vain as the bone failed to fuse up.
This is Mr Oleh’s bad defect that has been treated up within the Biotech project
Then it was the Biotech’s turn. The cell technologies did their job: the doctors at ilaya clinic which is being the Project’s base hospital, grew up a new bone from the patient’s own cells and implanted it into his hip. To prevent any complications and provide safe fusion of the bone, they filled the affected area with special concentrate made out of cells able of enhancing the process of fusion and healing. Now when the bone got finally fused, it has been stretched to its normal length due to application of conventional methods. Despite he is still wearing metal on his leg, despite he is still walking supported by crutches, Mr Oleh will be able to walk on his own two feet freely and without limitations, in a couple of months.
As usual, the Volunteer Center People’s Project paid for the full course of treatment. At the expense of people’s donations, we have accumulated funds and payed bills for nearly half a million hryvnias. Maybe Mr Oleh has approached complete recuperation, still there are many other fighters at the «Bioengineering Rehabilitation for Wounded» project who need our assistance. Dear friends, please join the Project as it is only our combined efforts that enable our wounded defenders to come back to normal life without lameness and pain.
