Lviv doctors save life of Ukrainian defender with shrapnel in his heart

Doctors in Lviv have removed a one-and-a-half-centimetre fragment of Russian munition from a defender's heart. Source: Unbroken National Rehabilitation Centre Details: 42-year-old Roman Kliza from Volyn Oblast became a patient of cardiac surgeons at St Panteleimon's Hospital and the Amosov Institute.

Apr 20, 2024 - 06:52
Lviv doctors save life of Ukrainian defender with shrapnel in his heart

Doctors in Lviv have removed a one-and-a-half-centimetre fragment of Russian munition from a defender’s heart.

Source: Unbroken National Rehabilitation Centre 

Details:  42-year-old Roman Kliza from Volyn Oblast became a patient of cardiac surgeons at St Panteleimon's Hospital and the Amosov Institute.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Roman worked as a driver abroad. After the outbreak of the full-scale war, he joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was an aerial reconnaissance man.

Roman was seriously wounded in December 2023.

 
A team of cardiac surgeons from St Panteleimon's Hospital and the Amosov Institute saved Roman.
Photo: National Rehabilitation Centre Unbroken 

"We got to our positions and were just approaching the dugout when a drone flew towards us. I don't remember anything else," Roman recollects.

That day, one of his brothers-in-arms was killed, and Roman was taken to hospital. He was in a coma for nine days. He woke up in a hospital in the city of Dnipro.

"Local doctors did everything possible to save the man's life. As a result of a severe mine-blast injury, he had damaged a part of his right brain.

But more critical was the fact that one of the fragments was lodged in the man's chest, just a millimetre from his trachea," the medics said.

 
Cardiac surgeons removed the fragment without damaging vital structures.
Photo: National Rehabilitation Centre Unbroken

After Roman's condition was stabilised, he was transported to Lviv, where doctors conducted an examination and drew up a plan for surgery.

 
Roman is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Photo: National Rehabilitation Centre Unbroken

Roman is currently undergoing rehabilitation because of the brain damage that left his left arm paralysed and his walking and coordination impaired.

The sessions with a physical therapist have yielded results, and Roman was able to take his first steps within a week.

"What motivates me the most is seeing the results. Every day I take a few more steps, which gives me hope," Roman says.

 
Roman was seriously wounded in December 2023.
Photo: National Rehabilitation Centre Unbroken

In the near future, Roman will undergo neurosurgery to restore his skull defect. Individual 3D titanium plates are being made for him at the moment.

Background:

  • Lviv paediatric neurosurgeons performed complex brain surgery on a 4-year-old patient from Northern Ireland who was suffering from severe seizures.

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