“It doesn't matter if it is prosthetic or not, if it works” Rehabilitation therapist from Greece who lost his arm in the war
Alexis is 27 years old, a Greek citizen, but was born in Kyiv. He has been a professional goalkeeper in football since the age of 14. His father is Greek and his mother is Ukrainian. He spent part of his life in Kyiv and part in Kastoria, his father's hometown.
In Kyiv, Alexis was trained as a trauma surgeon. It was his childhood dream to help people. However, Alexis could not have imagined that he would save lives in the war, lose his arm, but gain much more.
“I regret not going to war during the ATO”
We met Alexis in the courtyard of the hospital where he works as the head of the rehabilitation medicine department. In his international family, he and his sister were the only ones who chose to become doctors.
“My older sister is an obstetrician and a gynecologist. After graduation, I worked in a round-the-clock trauma center in Vyshhorod, so I received patients with completely different injuries — from fractures to stab wounds. I am trained to act quickly. This helped me during the full-scale invasion,” says Alexis.
I ask him when he first got scared. The answer is short: “On the Maidan, during the Revolution of Dignity.” Alexis was 15 years old at the time. He was carrying cartons of cigarettes and trays of eggs from St. Michael's Cathedral. In short, he did what he could.
“The only thing I regret is not being in the ATO. I thought the war was somewhere in the east. Now I feel ashamed of it. Smart guys volunteered to fight in Georgia back in 2008. I only began to realize shortly before February 24, 2022, that we would wake up and there would be a full-scale war. That's when I joined the Hospitallers,” the man says and throws a cigarette butt into the trash with his bionic hand.
In May 2022, Alexis arrived for his first rotation in Bakhmut, Ukraine. He recalls that the city was still intact. The man worked at the Bakhmut Emergency Hospital: he was a medical backup in the hospital and also evacuated the wounded. During one of the evacuations, Alexis got into an accident.
“It was at night, during the evacuation, we drove into a Kozak armored vehicle. There was nothing left of our bus. Unfortunately, one of our sisters-in-arms was killed, and all the others suffered injuries of varying severity. At war, you don't think about the traffic rules, you think about not getting your car smashed. We didn't notice the military vehicles on the roadside because they were camouflaged,” the medic recalls.
After recovering from the injury, he looked at his hand. The hand was gone. As a traumatologist, he realized that amputation was inevitable. For some time, his friend tried to support him and reassure him that his hand was “fine”.
“And I looked at it: two fingers were hanging. As a doctor, I knew that the limb has to be amputated and I need to get prosthetics. It was a pretty obvious choice for me. I wanted to learn how to use the prosthesis very quickly,” says Alexis.
“In some cases, I support prosthetics abroad, but for the most part, I do not”
Alexis underwent rehabilitation at the National Rehabilitation Center “Unbroken”. He says he was very lucky with his rehabilitation therapist. He assures us that our prosthetists are extremely professional, so he did not consider going abroad.
“My level of amputation does not require prosthetics abroad. We make very cool prostheses in Ukraine. In some cases, I support prosthetics abroad, but for the most part, I don't. Why? I was fitted with a prosthesis from the Ukrainian developer Esper Bionics. It is very stylish, even if compared to cosmetic prostheses. Now I would not accept another one.”
I take a closer look at Alexis's new robotic arm: the first thing that catches my eye is the sign “Hospitallers”. The fingers of the prosthesis have touch pads that can perceive the phone screen. This helps Alexis respond to messages and play billiards.
“I was one of the first to have a bionic arm fitted. Just a day later, I was already trying to pick up a cup of coffee. Although it is all individual: someone learns in two months, someone in two days. It all depends on motivation, perception and understanding. It doesn't matter if you have a prosthetic arm or not, as long as it works.”
After the prosthetics, Alexis had only one wish — to return to the medical volunteer battalion as soon as possible. He managed to do so six months after losing his limb. With his new arm, he was able to administer intravenous drips and injections.
However, after a while, Alexis was offered to head a rehabilitation department for the military. He accepted the offer.
“I would really like to return to Hospitallers. But I can't do it yet. It is important to think about how my specific actions can help win the warand start from where you can do the best. I did not leave the battalion and, of course, I keep in touch. After I stopped being just a doctor and became the head of the rehabilitation department, the amount of work and responsibility increased. So for now, I have to stay at my hospital and do rehabilitation.”
“I did it — you can do it too”
Alexis has been in his new position for six months. On the day we talked to him, there were 22 soldiers in the rehabilitation unit. A whole team of specialists works with them.
“The servicemen work with a physical therapist and an ergotherapist, all of them must visit a psychologist, we have speech and language therapists, psychologists and psychiatrists, neurologists, traumatologists, physical and rehabilitation medicine doctors. Depending on the needs of the wounded, a multidisciplinary team is selected to work with them.”
Alexis says that the servicemen trust him because they see that he has also been through the hell of war. In addition, they see him as an example: he did it, so they can do it too.
“There was a case when I was smoking at the back entrance of the hospital, and a guy was standing next to me and started a conversation:
— Are you a hospitalller?
— Yes, I am. (It's not hard to guess from the chevron on my arm, so I just pretend not to see him looking at the prosthesis.)
— I once evacuated a hospitalller to a hospital whose arm had been blown off, and he was singing on the way.
— “Pour out the crystal chalices, brothers?”
— Yes! You were using my phone to call your best friend and girlfriend.
— She is now my wife.
We silently looked into each other's eyes and smiled. We were no longer strangers — we were like brothers who have known each other for centuries.”
Alexis shares that in his unit, most of the guys with amputations are not depressed. On the contrary, they are eager to return to their brothers-in-arms and reclaim the country.
“I have guys here without arms and legs, and they want to go back to war again. And men with two arms are drowning in the Tisza. So the question is who here has a disability. For me, disability is not a matter of missing a limb, it's in the head. I had a patient with amputated forearms, and he did push-ups off the floor. Such examples inspire me,” Alexis says.
Before the full-scale invasion, the man had normal life plans: home, family, work. Now he dreams of the end of the war and a trip to Greece with his best friend from the 503rd Brigade. He also shares a recipe for the oldest Greek sauce, Tzatziki.
“Buy Greek yogurt, grate cucumber, garlic, and dill, and mix it all together. It's easy and delicious! And I advise you to eat it with a slice of rye bread with salo and an olive on top of it. Try it!”
Author: Lesia Rodina
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