I was supposed to be on duty on the twenty-fourth of February. Already in the morning we understood that we would not return home in the evening.

We took some things and went to the hospital with the family. I did not consider any other options. It was scary, because street fights had already started in the city. My wife and children almost always lived in the basement. I sent them to Lviv in a week, and I myself lived in the hospital for more than two months.

But centralized food was preserved, although sometimes we cooked on our own and received help from volunteers. The management had adjusted all processes, arranged life for medical workers and their relatives. It occurred that the lights went out in the middle of the surgery, but the doctors continued to operate. We did not have a shortage of hands, even when ten patients came to the reception department. We worked simultaneously in three and four operating rooms.

I have never encountered such damage in my life. Only studied at the university. The fragment entered the area where the sciatic artery passed. The place is very difficult to access, and if the fragment is extracted, even more trouble can be caused, because there is a high probability of damaging the sciatic artery when searching for the shrapnel. The future of his nephew depended on this decision.

He decided not to touch it, told his brother that his son would live with that fragment. And he answered, "Artem, you are a specialist, only you can decide such a thing." They trusted me completely. You know, it is quite difficult to make such a decision instead of parents, and even instead of a relative. The first two weeks when I bandaged I was very worried. If something went wrong, I didn't know how to look them in the eye. But everything ended well.

Multiplied by the circumstances of war, incredible fatigue and injuries that you have never encountered. But only a few of our doctors, nurses and orderlies left the city. Even the interns stayed, although they could turn around and leave. Because everyone understands that we have to do our job. We have done it, we are doing it and we will do it.