“Carry my legs back.” How a 24-year-old military man with a triple amputee learns to live

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24-year-old Denys Kryvenko got to the front after a summons issued to him at the factory. He passed a year of hot spots of the Ukrainian war without injuries. However, on January 3, his life was divided into before and after. An enemy shell tore off both his legs and his left arm. However, this did not break the boy’s fighting spirit. With a broad smile, he says that with prostheses, you can get up and walk instead of grieving over lost limbs. He gets new metal legs every day and prepares to fulfill his dreams at the center of Superhumans. Denis told his story for “Ukrainian Pravda. Life”. She was joined by the main prosthetist Victoria Olykh, who explained the nuances of prostheses for the lower and upper limbs. Twice rejected by the Military Commissariat. At the age of 19, Denys completed one and a half years of military service, then worked at a steel plant in his native Kropyvnytskyi. As the hero notes, the work is hard, but profitable. On February 24, he rested after his shift. He was 23 years old. My mother called and said that the war had started. But later, Denys did not understand the full importance of the situation. In a few minutes, his younger brother woke him up. “I lived with my brother, he was doing contract service at the time. So he should have been the first to be taken to the front. I joked that he was older, so let him stand in line behind me,” he says with a broad smile. Before going to the Military Commissariat, Denys persuaded his mother to go abroad with his two younger brothers. Denis is already in rehabilitation in Lviv. Photo: Superhumans He got two rejections when he came alone. On March 15, he was issued a summons at the factory, the next day the boy already passed the medical examination. “I didn’t want the war to come to our home. So I went to Lysychansk on the 17th. I arrived in the East as part of the 57th Assault Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We waited a few days for ammunition, got on track, trained and left for the border. They held Rubizhne with the National Guard for a month and a half, then moved to the Nizhny Luhansk region… A team was assembled with which it was not scary at all,” the fighter says. Until January 2023, he passed through many hot spots on the front without being injured. In his free time, Denys was interested in tactical medicine, was a medic on the position. He says that he studied with his older brothers, watched videos, read books. His knowledge saved the lives of several military units. You won’t hear your projectile. On January 3, the fighters received an order from the leadership to retreat from the village, because the Russians started an offensive, and their forces prevailed. Denis’s brigade was the last to leave. “The attack was strong, I just managed to cross the road. An anti-tank shell fell half a meter from me. As they say in war – you can’t hear your own. That’s what happened. I immediately lost my right leg and left arm, half of the machine gun “cut off”. My left leg was twisted. The boys thought they could save her, but she was hanging by her skin,” the soldier recalls. Denis’s brothers worked at the Takmed test site, so they reacted quickly in reality. Turnstiles were put on and he was carried 2.5 kilometers to the car. All this time the boy was conscious. He adds that he did not feel pain due to the severed limbs – except for the strong pressure of the tourniquets. An hour later, the brothers checked the condition, tightened the tourniquets and additionally anesthetized Denys. “I was on the evacuation route to ease the panic and fatigue a little, joked, laughed, cried, sang the national anthem. My friend, who was very worried about me, says – you were so tired that you already said goodbye to us twice, but you survived, we are glad to see you” , – recalls the 24-year-old Hero with warmth in his voice. Read also: Takmed was “pulled up” thanks to Instagram: the story of a wounded soldier who managed to save his hand near Kherson “Bring my legs back” The soldier’s condition was stabilized in Kramatorsk, immediately after that he was evacuated to the Mechnikov hospital in Dnipro. “The thing that scared me the most was that I could hear everything, but I couldn’t do anything after the anesthesia. I tried to stir myself up. Then I thought – that’s all, it’s okay, I’m alive. The next day, on the bandage, I started joking. I said, what are you doing, why you bandage, carry my legs back,” Denys recalls and smiles even wider. Denis’s “new” legs He notes that he already called his mother on January 4. Her number is the only one the guy knew by heart. “I called, I said – don’t worry, I don’t have an arm and two legs. I calmly explained it. She says – I’ll be there tomorrow. She was already there on the evening of January 5,” Denys continues. In a few weeks, the soldier was transferred to Vinnytsia for rehabilitation. “I was lucky with a surgeon in Vinnytsia – a cool guy. He’s all about the thyroid gland and stomach, I’m his first amputee patient. So he put me in the hospital the second day after I arrived from the Dnipro. I say – it’s scary, I haven’t sat down for a week. Nothing, he says , you have to get used to it. We practiced for 5 minutes every day, then the rehabilitators began to increase the time of the classes,” says the serviceman. Denis gradually restored the tone of his back muscles. He notes that he never fell into depression due to the loss of limbs. The hand as a gadget Denys first had a hand prosthetic in Germany, in collaboration with Ukrainian specialists. He has a myoelectric prosthesis, that is, his hand can make several movements and is also able to withstand loads. “Expectations from hand prosthetics are very high, they do not always coincide with reality. Because it is extremely difficult to restore the function of the upper limb. Unfortunately, today we cannot talk about a full return to the upper limbs, regardless of the type of prosthesis. But it all depends on a person’s motivation, depending on the degree of his training. If there is a desire to use a prosthesis, then this is already a very high percentage of prosthetics success,” says the chief prosthetist of the Superhumans rehabilitation center Victoria Olykh. Read also: Happiness is to have a hand again. Military about injury, amputation and electrical prosthesis She adds that in general there are 3 large groups of upper limb prostheses: cosmetic, mechanical and myoelectric (they are also called bionic). The latter can move their fingers and perform many small operations. “This is a highly functional thing that also helps adaptation in everyday life. The only thing is that they are waterproof and afraid of dust. That is, they need careful use. You should also understand that it is like a gadget. It can serve for a long time, but it is not one for life,” he explains prosthetist The average service life is calculated for 2.5-3 years. The myoelectric hand of Denis Viktoriya Olich emphasizes that before placing a myoelectric prosthesis, a team of specialists must examine the stump (amputated limb) and test muscle impulses. If they are insufficient, an individual rehabilitation program is developed. In the event that the muscles are atrophied and will not be able to recover, then it will not be possible to install a bionic prosthesis. Denis, for example, has a reinforced bionic prosthesis. Leaning on it, the boy works out in the hall, in particular on parallel bars, when he learns to walk. The second time: the first steps Denys notes that the first steps were difficult, because the muscles were used to working. He stood on his feet the next day after the measurements – the sleeve (that is, the holder for the stump) was made literally in a day. As told in the Superhumans center, the mother of 24-year-old Denys then stretched out her hands to her son and said: “this is the second time we are taking the first steps.” Leg prosthetics always start with the smallest tube length, so the patient actually gets a foot up to the stumps (amputated limbs) he has. The first task is to restore balance, to use the muscle corset again. Then, gradually, the length of the tube is added to the prosthesis, and if necessary, the knees are placed. “We work because of “I can’t”. It was hard at first. The higher you get, you get out, you start again. The more times I climbed, the harder and harder it was. Now I’m 1.7 meters tall with prostheses, and before the injury I was 1.85″, – Denis says. According to him, the prosthesis is noticeable in weight, but not critically heavy. Denis is training to walk again. Despite the difficulties, the fighter is always positive. He says that his comrades forbade him to return to the department with prostheses, because “the legs will be taken away.” Therefore, the boy has an ambitious dream: to try his hand at sports. A year after the injury, when the stumps become stable, a sports prosthesis will be made for him. And he wants to finally ride a bike and drive a car. “There are sports prostheses for professional running. They are different from prostheses for walking: they have special electronic knees and legs with increased functionality, which allow professional running,” says Victoria Olykh. She adds that it is possible to drive a car with prostheses. It is advisable to switch the machine to manual control so as not to use prosthetic legs. However, it depends on the level of amputation, the configuration of the prosthesis, etc. Prostheses and features of life with them Viktoria Olich explains: a prosthesis weighs from 2 to 4 kg, but it is always lighter than a natural limb. It may seem difficult when the limb has been amputated for a long time and the muscle tone decreases. The main rule of life with a prosthesis: you have to love it. Denis and Mykhailo have already fallen in love with their prostheses. They are equipped with low functionality, which helps the patient to reach the pool or river. The bathing prosthesis does not help in swimming, but it can be wetted and independently reach the water body. She adds that discomfort can also occur due to complications: neuromas (a small tumor or abnormal growth of a nerve) and osteophytes (bone growths). In these conditions, the patient acutely feels even minimal touches, and walking with a prosthesis can cause significant discomfort. Another non-obvious inconvenience can be a change in the volume of the stump. For example, due to swelling. Therefore, patients are warned that even minimal doses of alcohol can affect the state of the stump. A change in temperature or significant physical exertion (a long walk the day before) can also have an effect. In severe frost in winter, the prosthesis may freeze. Ukrainian fighters are given hydraulic knees, the lubricant may become thicker, but when walking it will heat up and become thinner. A myoelectric prosthesis can discharge faster in the cold. Therefore, this should be taken into account, because if the battery is completely discharged, it will stop working. To get a prosthesis at the Superhumans center, you need to contact the manager or fill out the form on the website. The information is processed from 1 to 3 days. Rehabilitation and prosthetics are absolutely free for the patient. Viktoriya Andreeva, UP.Zhyttia Read also: With “military” brains, you understand what “civilian” ones would not be able to understand. Stories of a traumatologist from a military hospital

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