15-03-2025
A Ukrainian soldier — a blind amputee — came to Modesto with a story you should know
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine first began, at the beginning of 2022, the war has resulted in thousands of new cases of blindness among both civilians and soldiers. During the first seven months of 2023, the National Institute of Health reported that there were 19,000 new diagnosed cases of vision loss and vision deterioration in Ukraine. These horrific injuries are due to the tremendous risk of exposure to drone bombing, artillery fire, aerial glide bombs and land mine explosions.
I am a retired ophthalmologist and retina surgeon living in Modesto. In 2007, my family and I traveled to Ukraine to donate surgical equipment to a hospital. Since then, I have hosted visiting physicians from Modesto's sister city, Khmelnytskyi, Ukraine.
A visual rehab center has been established in Vinnytsia, a central Ukrainian city, with a goal of assisting blind individuals in advanced stages of recovery, emphasizing the mastery of life skills.
Last month, I spoke with Andriy, a 29-year-old Ukrainian army officer who was injured in combat in June of 2023 (I have omitted his surname because he is returning to Ukraine soon where he could become a Russian target due to his activities in support of the Ukrainian army). He was visiting Modesto during one week alongside other injured Ukrainian veterans and their accompanying rehab specialists through the 'Open World Program.' During their stay, they met with local elected officials and hospital rehab specialists, visited a large guide-dog training facility and attended lectures on eye trauma and visual rehabilitation products.
In February of 2022, Andriy was working as a financial consultant in Kyiv when Russia invaded Ukraine. Andriy sent his wife abroad, and then tried to enlist in the military, but was rejected because of a congenital heart condition. He was not discouraged, however, and went to another recruitment office in a nearby town and was accepted into the army. Because of his college engineering background, he was made an officer in charge of a combined drone and reconnaissance unit.
Armed Ukrainian drones have played an important role in the battlefield. The New York Times recently reported that armed Russian drones have been dropping extremely accurate grenades. One recently tore the arm off an officer who was sitting beneath the thin hatch of an armored vehicle.
The Russians have also become intent on killing any reconnaissance personnel they can find.
Andriy recalled that he and his men took an observation position near the end of an unoccupied trench from which they could see Russian soldiers in an adjacent trench about a half a mile away. After a few moments, he realized how vulnerable they were, and he yelled to his men to abandon the trench and run into the forest as fast as possible. After a 200-yard sprint, they heard three titanic rapid-fire artillery explosions at the very spot from which they had viewed the Russians.
They threw themselves on the ground for a few minutes, and then retreated further while laughing hysterically at their good fortune.
During the failed Ukrainian offensive against Zaporizhzhia in June 2023, Andriy was suddenly injured. Speaking with me, he recalled his first sensations when he was injured by some sort of explosion.
'I saw smoke, fell back and was dragged from the scene by a teammate,' he said. 'When I opened (my) eyes, it was really dark. I actually thought, 'Oh wow, ... it was some kind of nightmare.''
He tried to move, but he could not. He felt weird sensations from his body. His next thought was: What happened to the guys in my team? It was only later that Andriy learned that both of his eyes, most of his face and both arms had been shredded with shrapnel. He would never have survived if his trunk had not been protected with a kevlar vest.
For the first several weeks after his injury, he underwent surgery every two to three days. His right arm was amputated below his elbow, and his left arm was amputated below his shoulder. Both of his eyes were replaced with unseeing prosthetics. His mouth was completely stitched, so he could not talk. He also could not eat, and drank through a straw. Eventually, Andriy's doctors realized he was attempting to communicate by waving his arm stump.
Andriy's wife came to be with him, and she helped him write letters.
'I was like a newborn kid,' Andriy says of this time. 'I needed to learn how to walk, how to eat, how to cook, how to make tea for my wife and how to open doors or operate my phone without hands.'
When asked about the enormous personal sacrifice he has made for the war effort, Andriy said that he does not think of his injury as a personal sacrifice.
'I never considered that my military work might result in the loss of my life,' he said.
Andriy and his wife have been receiving rehab care at an American hospital for several months. Soon, they will return to Ukraine.
He is a leading advocate for the rehabilitation of injured Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and is working to establish connections with organizations that help injured American veterans. He hopes to share their knowledge and experiences with Ukrainian rehab organizations.
Andriy has also founded a non-governmental organization in Ukraine to help wounded veterans who have double and triple amputations and spinal cord injuries. Ukrainian military technology advancements are highly dependent on dozens of Ukrainian startup businesses, and Andriy is consulting with investors who want to invest in some of these military startups.
'I want to do everything in my power to help my brothers in the Ukrainian army achieve victory,' Andriy said.
Dr. Gregory Tesluk is a retired ophthalmologist and retina surgeon from Modesto with Ukrainian roots. His grandparents were born near Lviv in Western Ukraine. He can be reached at gtesluk@
