Surgeons in Lviv use titanium prostheses to restore Ukrainian defender's face
Roman Yermolenko lost a leg and half of his face when he came under artillery fire in Luhansk Oblast in October.
He has undergone 69 operations. The last was reconstructive surgery on his face, the First Medical Association reported.
The 44-year-old soldier served in the 92nd Mechanised Brigade. In October, the Russians fired on their armoured vehicle near Stelmakhivka. Only 3 of the 12 Ukrainian soldiers survived.
The blow hit the right side of Roman's body: his right leg was mangled, several fingers on his right hand were torn off, and instead of his face, a dent was formed because the bone base was missing.
Roman was taken to Kharkiv in a critical condition and then to Kyiv. For two months, doctors fought to save his life in intensive care. His injured leg had to be amputated.
In total, the fighter underwent 68 operations and 60 blood transfusions.
"The worst thing is when you become aware of your condition and how helpless you are. I didn't want a life like that, I couldn’t imagine it," Roman recalls.
After stabilisation, he was transferred to Mukachevo for rehabilitation and later moved to Lviv for limb prosthetics and facial reconstructive surgery.
Because Roman had no bone base on the right side of his face, he could not eat or speak.
Read also: "Bring my legs back". How a 24-year-old triple amputee is learning to live a new life
Doctors at the Nezlamni Rehabilitation Centre in Lviv fitted the defender with an individual multi-component titanium prosthesis for the upper and lower jaw, the temporomandibular joint and the base of the orbit.
"This is technically a very difficult operation," says maxillofacial surgeon Oleh Kovtuniak. "Afterwards there was a period of waiting to see whether the skin on the prosthesis would take root or not. If not, the prosthesis would have had to be removed, and the damaged part of Roman's face would have remained deformed."
The skin on the prosthesis has successfully taken root; the postoperative period passed without complications. Roman can eat and talk now. And thanks to his leg prosthesis, he is learning to walk again.
"I still have to raise my children. I have to live so I can look after them, not have them look after me," says the soldier.
He is making huge efforts to relearn everyday skills so he can return home to his son and daughter as soon as possible.
However, many Ukrainian veterans, such as Roman Kashpur, who ran the length of a marathon on a prosthesis, have proven that amputation is not a death sentence.
Journalists fight on their own frontline. Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron!
