“I survived and this is a miracle, so I just have no right to surrender,” — Andrey Tkachenko, a law enforcement officer from Dnipropetrovsk region (VIDEO)
23-year-old policeman Andriy Tkachenko is undergoing rehabilitation after a serious injury received as a result of shelling by enemy drones.
The events of a full-scale police intrusion were found in the city of Marganets, at the place of service. Andrei recalls that in the early days, when the city was under active shelling, they together with colleagues went to the landing sites, helped the local population and recorded war crimes of the Russian Federation.
“We have repeatedly come under enemy fire on the patrol route. I remember, there was an artillery shell and somewhere 50-100 meters from our service car, a shell flew - we were very lucky to remain unharmed,” the policeman recalls.
On March 1, 2023, at 9 o'clock in the morning, the law enforcement officer went on duty for a day and had to change the next day. The events of that night divided the life of Andrei Tkachenko into a before and after. Then, together with his partner, he served at a checkpoint in the city. Manganese. The policeman still recalls hearing the buzzing of a Russian drone in the sky:
“The first explosive device was dropped nearby and we quickly ran to shelter, but a second shell exploded a meter from the shelter. So it turned out that touched me the most. I was conscious and understood everything that had happened. As such, I did not feel pain, it was just a shock. I only saw that there was heavy bleeding and an injured hand. When I touched my feet, I could not feel them. I understood that if I do not put a tourniquet on my hand now, I will simply bleed.”
The injured law enforcement officer was taken to the hospital. On the road, doctors constantly asked that he not close his eyes and talk. The policeman held out until arriving in the Dnieper, and then lost consciousness and was unconscious for two days. He later learned that doctors had performed several surgeries on his back, right arm and face because his jaw was broken. The arm was saved, although initially there were predictions about amputation.
“Fortunately, now the hand has almost completely recovered its functions, only the thumb hardly moves. I had to learn to write again,” says Andriy.
From that moment on, Andrew began a countdown of endless operations and procedures to restore all lost functions. For more than two months, he was bedridden, unable to even turn on his side on his own due to the fact that his body was partially paralyzed.
After treatment in Kiev, the policeman had to go through a difficult path of treatment and rehabilitation in four more cities. Rehabilitologists taught him to sit on a trolley, move his knees and with the help of special suspensions on the ceiling helped him take the first steps. Verticalizing the body and learning to stand again was the most difficult for Andriy.
“When I took the first step, I felt happy about what happened. It was in August 2023, on suspension. A special crane and two doctors helped me move my legs,” the policeman recalls.
At first, the policeman walked on walkers, and now he walks with plastic crutches. Now he stubbornly works to keep his balance without help, taking several steps without support. For six days a week, a man almost all the time is engaged in a variety of physical exercises.
“Now I'm already trying to walk myself, more precisely I'm learning to walk, as they say from scratch. Today with a stick, a little more time - and I will walk without her help. There is still a fear of falling, so support is needed. Small steps, but I'm going to my goal. Walking fully again, returning to my native Marganets and to colleagues in the service — this is my main motivation”, - shares plans for the future law enforcement officer.
Andrei's voice sounds courageous, like that of a real man who, at the age of 23, faced difficulties, but did not give up and continues to fight for his health and life. Recently, Andriy Tkachenko was given the regular rank of senior police lieutenant and assured that they are looking forward to his return to service.
National Police of Ukraine
