01-05-2025
Performing amputation with kitchen knife under rubble: the story of Ukrainian military surgeon Oleksii Nosulko
Ukrainian military surgeon Oleksii Nosulko has carried out one of the most extreme operations while lying beside a wounded soldier in a narrow gap between the concrete slabs of a destroyed building.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia (Life), citing Nosulko's story shared by Ukraine's Medical Forces
Details: Oleksii was a civilian burn care specialist before the full-scale invasion.
He worked at the Centre for Thermal Trauma and Reconstructive Surgery in Dnipro, regularly attended military reserve training and kept his skills up to date.
He enlisted in Ukraine's Armed Forces on 25 February 2022, after preparing his local hospital to receive the wounded.
After gaining experience in military surgery, Nosulko was transferred to an advanced surgical unit in Zaporizhzhia. His first rotation took place in January 2023 near Huliaipole.
Ukraine commenced a counteroffensive in this war zone area on 4 June 2023. Nosulko's team treated around 150 wounded soldiers on the first day alone.
"The first three days were so intense they felt like one endless day," Oleksii recalls. "In the first 24 hours alone, we treated around 150 wounded – from light shrapnel injuries, contusions and acute stress reactions to the most severe injuries: amputations, multiple penetrating wounds to the chest, abdomen and head."
The most extreme challenge came in the summer of 2024, when an airstrike brought down a building, trapping a wounded soldier beneath it. His legs were pinned by a concrete slab weighing several tonnes.
His brothers-in-arms managed to dig a narrow passage, but there was no way to pull him free. The only chance to save his life was to amputate his legs right under the rubble.
First, an anaesthetist from the brigade crawled into the concrete trap to stabilise the soldier, helping him breathe, inserting a drip and administering pain relief. Then Oleksii reached the wounded trooper.
"I amputated his right leg without much difficulty, but his left leg was partially buried under rubble and concrete," Oleksii recalls. "I had to dig out a niche with my hands, place a tourniquet inside, and begin cutting through the knee joint. The anaesthetic started to wear off, so a syringe with more painkiller was thrown down to me."
"I broke all the scalpels, and through the same niche, they handed me an ordinary kitchen knife, which I used to continue the amputation," Nosulko says. "With great difficulty, I managed to remove the second leg. After that, both the wounded soldier and I were pulled out of the hole."
The wounded soldier remained conscious for all six hours while his comrades worked tirelessly to free him. Enduring intense pain, he repeatedly asked his brothers-in-arms for a pistol.
"I was asked several times if I was scared or had doubts about going into that hole," Oleksii recalled. "I guess my answer is that it's not for nothing that we wear shoulder straps along with our medical suits. Sometimes, you have to overcome your fear and step up, not just as a doctor, but as a combat officer. My fear is nothing compared to what the patient has endured."
After both legs were amputated, the wounded soldier was evacuated to a stabilisation centre, where his wounds were cleaned, he underwent shock treatment and a conversion of tourniquets. He was later transferred to a hospital for further care.
"I know that he survived and underwent several major operations," the military surgeon says. "Now, after a long rehabilitation, the lad is walking on prostheses. This motivates me to keep working. However, I'm not sure if this story can influence other doctors. After all, it shows that the service of a military doctor does not always mean a warm, sterile operating theatre and normal safe conditions."
At home, Oleksii's beloved wife and son are eagerly awaiting his return, while his mother worries about both Oleksii and his younger brother, who also enlisted in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
"My little son is growing up. I realise that everything I do is for the sake of him and other children. So that the war will not be inherited by their generation," Oleksii concludes.
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