Weapons protect our soldiers but their families let them not give up. Behind the heroic stories of Ukrainian defenders, there are often no less heroic stories of their wives, mothers, daughters, and sisters. Women wait for their loved ones from the front, pray, volunteer, and are really concerned about how well they are fed and dressed. When their close ones are wounded, women struggle for their lives, hold their hands in the hospital, encourage, care for, and keep believing even when others remain indifferent. Tetiana Komisarchuk, who devoted the last 1.5 years of her life to treating and restoring her veteran husband after serious injuries, is convinced that if a strong woman stands behind a soldier, the soldier himself will also stand.
Komisarchuk couple live in Ternopil and raise their 4-year-old daughter Yana. On October 14, 2022, when the woman found out about the injury of her husband, their life dramatically changed. “At 5 pm, strangers knocked on my door. They said that Artem was seriously injured. But his current location is unknown. I started calling everyone I knew from my husband’s service. Late in the evening, we learned that Artem was in the Kharkiv Military Hospital, in a coma,” Tetiana recalls that day.
Four days later, the soldier regained consciousness and called his wife. From the hospital discharge, Tetiana learned that all parts of Artem’s body were badly damaged, except for his right leg. Since then, a long journey through hospitals has begun for the Komisarchuk family in the hope of saving his life.
“For 1.5 years, Artem was treated in Poland for a rare infection that was eating away the bone tissue of his left leg. He underwent 130 operations, each time having his bone cut off 1-1.5 cm. When the bacteria destroyed his hip joint, the doctors assumed that Artem went into remission. But I understood something was wrong with my husband because instead of the usual 115 kg, he weighed 70 kg,” says Tetiana.
Doctors in Lviv advised amputating the limb, as antibiotic therapy was ineffective. And Tetiana persuaded her husband to take this step. During the operation, Artem went into septic shock, the infection began to spread to all organs — his chances of survival were low. Tetiana recalls that she was crushed, she blamed herself for persuading her husband to agree to the amputation.
Fortunately, Artem survived. After his left leg was amputated, the disease was overcome and men began to recover quickly. However, it was hard for Artem to accept his disability — he became very annoyed each time Tetiana offered him help with his everyday routine.
“He wanted to divorce and did not talk to our daughter for a long time. He did not even want to return to our house after the operation. The feeling of self-inferiority was destroying him, he could not even make breakfast for his wife.”
Everything changed when Artem was offered prosthetics and rehabilitation in the USA by the Future for Ukraine Foundation. At the leading American clinic — Medical Center of Orthotics & Prosthetics — Artem received an advanced left leg prosthesis based on individual needs. For 6 weeks, physical therapists and prosthetists worked intensively with the veteran to maximally prepare him for walking on the prosthesis.
During Artem's absence, Tetiana arranged the house for the needs of her beloved one. And when the husband returned home, the first thing he did was prepare breakfast for his wife.
After 1.5 years of an intense rhythm of life, the woman was emotionally and physically exhausted. From her own experience, Tetiana is convinced disabled veterans should undergo rehabilitation together with their wives. After all, If a woman gives up, her husband loses support and falls into depression.
Volunteering regular trips to the front, and live communication with the soldiers, helped Tetiana not to lose heart. A woman found understanding and support there. “Somehow I realized that I had no one out of civilians to whom I could pour out my soul. Everyone said that I was strong and that I should think about Artem first because he feels harder now”.
Today, Tetiana and Artem Komisarchuk dream of opening a rehabilitation center in Ternopil to help veterans recover after the war. And just another dream is to get in the car with family and go on a trip. Their daughter Yana above all wants to go to Africa. Artem promised to fulfill this wish, but only after the war ended.
