Survival and Sacrifice: A Medic's Heroic Act in Ukraine

“We were heading on the Bradley for casualty evacuation. There were three of us in the cargo compartment. I had a large medical backpack with me. I showed two medics sitting next to me where the tourniquets and Combat Gauze were located.

Then I started observing the monitor to get a rough idea of the area. I noticed that my comrades were visibly nervous. It was obvious that I would go first. So, we stopped. I took out the stretchers from the backpack and waited for the ramp to open.

It felt like an eternity. The moment of truth arrived. The ramp opened. I stepped out and stood on the ramp. I saw one of my wounded comrades lying to my left. He was quite far from me.

I was thinking I should get closer to him and noticed a crater from the explosion. I took off my rifle to avoid hindering myself. I jumped into the crater and landed, but my right leg couldn't bear the weight of the armour and the unstable ground. I land on my knee.

After that, there was an explosion and everything went dark in my eyes.

And I fell on my back. My leg was extremely painful. I looked at my right leg, and it was torn apart. I could see the flesh, bones, and hanging skin. A thought popped into my head: ‘Where should I apply the tourniquet in this situation?’

I decided to apply it just somewhere. I took out the tourniquet, held it in my hands, and contemplated my next actions. I began to unfold it and tie up it. And then I heard my comrade telling me to get back into the Bradley. I started crawling.

I reached out my hand to be pulled back, but he said there is mines there, and asked me to get closer. I continued crawling the whole time and it was incredibly painful.

When people say that there will be adrenaline and you won't feel anything, it makes me want to laugh. Because in real life, it's not like that at all. You might not feel a bullet, but you'll definitely feel a severed limb.

After I got into the Bradley, I asked them to tie up a second tourniquet to my right leg and then to tie up it to my left leg.

- Oleg Horpinyak. 47th Brigade. Ukraine, June 2023.