Despite losses, sorrow and pain, every day, we choose to fight. The price of our fight is extremely high, and the cherished victory will forever be bitter. But we don’t have any other path.
Alina Mykhailova – Victory of the Land
When a soldier is wounded, the TCCC protocol for first aid is applied. Those who studied it know that in case of massive bleeding, a tourniquet should be applied. Then, if possible, evacuation of the soldier shall take place with subsequent provision of medical care. Medical stabilisation point, hospital, rehabilitation, recovery.
But there is another type of wound for which there are no protocols. There are no tourniquets or bandages for them. This is the wound which stays with you 24/7. All military servicepersons have it. They hurt, but neither ibuprofen nor paracetamol can help. This wound may be suffered even when thinking that you are relatively safe.
You know, they say that men don’t cry. We took out many soldiers with the severest wounds – and none of them cried from pain. But sometimes I see tears running down soldiers’ cheeks, these burly titans who keep the frontline because of these wounds that will never be healed.
What kind of wounds are these?
There were seven of us, we took turns listening through the radio, and at some moment, we heard our comrade dying live on air.
It was a piercing, burning pain. Every second seemed to have lasted an hour.
The trench, the Russian shell that exploded, and the fragment that killed your friend, your comrade. Right before your eyes. And there is nothing you can do but hold your weapon tightly and take revenge. This is nothing like Hollywood movies. In real life, this is so terrifying that you cannot even imagine it.
How many such stories are there? Hundreds, thousands.
How many of such closed, concealed wounds does every soldier have? Dozens.
I suffered such wounds one by one, like all my comrades, until one of them became fatal for me.
We can mourn only after our Victory. We can never cure this pain, though. And more and more goals are added to your life goals and struggles. You are living because you must take revenge. You are living and fighting for yourself, for those who died in this war, and for future generations. Will we come back from this war?
I stayed forever in the ambulance with the call sign “Yellow,” where my crew and I worked with the wounded Da Vinci. I stayed forever in the ambulance, on the crash cart where Da Vinci died.
So, every military serviceperson who you see has two or more wounds, even if their body is intact.
We have a long and difficult way ahead. During World War II, Winston Churchill honestly told his nation that they had “blood, hard work, tears and sweat” in store for them. It does not sound good, but only by facing the truth are we able to find the way out of any situation. None of us will give up in the struggle because we are responsible for the future of our children, and we bear the duty to the deceased.
This self-sacrifice of the military is what keeps our world standing for now.
“In the great world drama of our days, we have the choice: either to be creators or victims of history,” these words were uttered by one of the most prominent leaders of the Ukrainian nation, Yevhen Konovalets. Every Ukrainian must join this struggle against the enemy. Only in this case will we defeat the enemy, and all this pain and horror of the war will not be in vain. Then, our children will not have to experience what we are facing now. Thoughts about such risks are new open wounds of the military. Let all this not be in vain.
