Lviv surgeons saved the hand of a 22-year-old defender from amputation, preserving his ability to use it after a serious injury.

Surgeons at the Unbroken Center saved the arm of 22-year-old Mykyta Balushynskyi from amputation. He suffered multiple fractures of the phalanges of all fingers and metacarpal bones in his left hand, along with extensive soft tissue damage. His index and middle fingers were missing, as well as several other structures. To save the soldier's hand, the surgeons attached it to his abdomen for five weeks.

Mykyta joined the military at the age of 18 on a contract basis and found himself on the front lines at the beginning of the full-scale invasion when he was just 19. Initially, he served in a reactive artillery brigade. This year, at the age of 21, he transferred to the 3rd separate assault brigade, where he retrained as a drone operator. He sustained his injuries in the area of the already occupied village of Karmazynivka in the Luhansk region. This occurred on September 25 during a mortar shelling. He stepped out of the bunker to launch a drone when one of the enemy projectiles landed nearby, as reported by the Center.

“I heard the sound of an explosion, but it wasn’t loud because the eardrums burst immediately. I was thrown back about 3-4 meters. I opened one eye, as the other was filled with blood from the shrapnel, and saw my severed arm. I thought I would lose half of my palm. Additionally, shrapnel hit my shoulder and legs,” recalls Mykyta.

After one and a half hours, Mykyta was brought to the stabilization point with his mangled arm. According to him, they wanted to amputate his arm, but his comrades, the combat medic Valkyrie and Berserk (a couple who fought together and died together), persuaded them not to proceed with the amputation. After the stabilization point, Mykyta was treated for several days by medical staff from Kharkiv, and at the beginning of October, he was sent to Lviv, to the Unbroken Center.

Upon arrival in Lviv, Mykyta was diagnosed with multiple fractures of the phalanges of all fingers and metacarpal bones in his left hand, along with extensive soft tissue damage. His index and middle fingers were missing, as well as several other structures. However, the surgeons decided to attempt to save the soldier's hand.

“After excising all non-viable soft tissues, muscles, and tendons, the doctors performed metal osteosynthesis and stabilized the broken bones. They closed the skin defect on the arm using an Italian plastic surgery technique. The surgeons almost completely detached a skin-fascial flap from the anterior abdominal wall and stitched it to the damaged hand,” the Center reports.

For five weeks, Mykyta walked around with his hand attached to his abdomen. Fortunately, the flap took, and his hand was saved.

Mykyta still faces a series of reconstructive surgeries and a lengthy rehabilitation process ahead. After his recovery, he wishes to return to his native brigade – the 3rd assault brigade.