"My son came under fire and lost his hearing"

Oleksandr:

My sister and I were going for a run. I stopped to wait for her. And a shell fell about two meters away. It was very unexpected. A bike fell on me. My ears were buzzing. There was lots of smoke. I couldn't see anything. Cars were coming. It's not that people don't come to help me, they just run away. My sister picked me up and we ran home.

Mother:

In June 2017, my child went for a walk in the evening and came under fire. A shell flew in, and the child got an injury, a concussion. The child lost his hearing.

He ran home. He couldn't hear anything. He just screamed. He screamed all night, and I carried him in my arms. Thank God, the hearing had recovered a little by morning.

We went to the hospital. We were told that we had a concussion. Both ears were damaged. We were told that hearing would restore.

Like any mother, I was shocked. Any child who walked in the yard, a hundred meters from the entrance, could get into this situation.

He shouted, cried, showed that he could not hear anything, "Mummy, I can't hear you, speak up." I'm talking to him, but he can't hear me. The child had tears in his eyes. So did I. I didn't understand what happened.

We left when it was very difficult. Then we returned. It is very difficult to live in another region. It is hard mentally, physically and financially. I have work here. My children go to school here. I can't leave my mother, I can't leave here.

We endured so many sleepless nights,  because he couldn't sleep normally. This fear still bothers him. We lay down in the corridor at any noise, at any explosion. Any loud conversation, and the child closes, covers his ears and head, and sits down. He can't hear me any more. The child became more irritable after that. I couldn't yell at him, you couldn't raise my voice at him. He just flares up like a torch..

We were told, "Take the child, take him to another territory, to another region, so that he just rested from the situation, so that he did not get nervous." By and large, we didn't need anything else. I just want peace and quiet. With this injury, we needed more psychological rehabilitation.

I have not heard that any other organization has shown such care for our children, except Rinat Akhmetov's staff.

After rehabilitation, the child has become calm. He can sleep now. He does not turn over, does not wake up at night or scream. He does not flinch at any rustle. Every time he heard something fall, he ran to the corridor with a pillow. We are waiting for the time when he can start football and fighting again.

If only peace and quiet came in the country. I just with everything was fine, the way it was before.