As a military surgeon made an amputation with a kitchen knife under the rubble: Amazing story

Military surgeon Alexei Nolyko performed one of the most extreme operations not in the hospital, but in the narrow passage between the concrete slabs of the destroyed building, lying next to the wounded military.

The history of service and the most difficult trials of the doctor told The medical forces of the Armed Forces.

Prior to a full -scale invasion, Alexei Nolya was a civilian combustiologist – a specialist in the treatment of severe burns.

He worked in the center of thermal trauma and reconstructive surgery in the Dnieper, underwent military training in the reserve and went to the meeting every year.

On February 25, 2022, immediately after he prepared his native hospital for the reception of the wounded, he mobilized to the Armed Forces.

Having gained experience of military surgery, Alexei went to Zaporozhye to the advanced surgical department. The first rotation was held in January 2023 near Gulyaypol.

”Then the war was positional in nature, and there were no large number of wounded. Of course, there are always many victims. They were brought from the battlefield or in serious condition, almost always had polytrauma and undiagnosed damage. In these circumstances, our group, which worked in the leading surgical department, honed the skills « – says Noley.

On June 4, 2023, a counter -offensive began on this front. In the first day alone, the doctor of the doctor received about 150 wounded.

« The first three days were so heavy that they actually merged on an endless day. In the first 24 hours of a counter -offensive, we missed about 150 wounded different levels of complexity, from simple light shrapnel wounds, acotrauma and acute psychotic reactions to the most severe injuries: amputations, multiple penetrations.– Alexei recalls.

The most extreme challenge occurred in the summer of 2024. As a result of the air strike, the building under which the wounded fighter fell. His legs were clamped with a concrete overlap of a few tons.

The brothers dug a narrow LAZ, but it was impossible to get it. The only way to save life is to amputate limbs just under the rubble.

« When I arrived in place, I saw a narrow move between the concrete slabs that kept on a road jack. Only one person could be accommodated near the wounded, only lying down, » – the surgeon remembers.

First, a brigade anesthesiologist came into the concrete « trap »: he provided a breathing fighter, put a drip, introduced painkillers. Then Alexey reached the wounded.

« The right foot amputated without much difficulty, and the left was partially buried under the wreckage of rubble and concrete. I had to dig a niche – he started a turnstile, started cutting off a limb through his knee joint. The action of anesthesia began to weaken, and I was thrown into a niche with a syringe.

The scalpels were crossed, and through the same niche I got a regular kitchen knife that I continued this amputation. With great difficulty, I still managed to amputate the second leg. Then we were pulled out of this hole with the victim,  » – Says Noley.

The fighter was conscious for all 6 hours until he tried to pull his brothers. He suffered and asked for his comrades to lose his gun.

« I was asked several times – was it scary, whether there were doubts whether to go into that hole or not? After all, there was really a chance that under the weight of a four -storey building the floor would be and both crush us.

Apparently, my answer is that we should also wear shoulder straps in addition to medicinal suits. Sometimes it is necessary to overcome fear, take a step forward, not just as a doctor, but as a combat officer. My fear is nothing compared to all that the patient has experienced « – says Alexei.

After the amputation of both feet, the wounded was evacuated to a stabilization point where he was cleared of wounds, and the counter -shock measures and conversion of turnstiles were carried out. He was later transferred to the hospital.

« We both were fully covered with dust and dirt. And then we moved the patient in our PCV (advanced surgical ward). Already there from « Form 100 » I learned his name. I will not call it for reasons of medical ethics. I know he survived, passed through a few heavy operations. Now, after long rehabilitation, the boy goes on prostheses.

It motivates me to work on. However, he is not sure that this story will be able to influence other doctors. After all, it is that the service of a military doctor is not always a warm sterile operating and normal safe conditions, ”, – says the doctor.

Alexei recalls that at the first rotations he was helped by experienced colleagues from Kiev, Khmelnytsky, Zaporizhzhya hospitals. He now commands a consolidated medical detachment.

But he confesses: his communication among civilian colleagues narrowed.

”Of course, many civilians carefully perform their duties by treating the wounded servicemen. But the crack between us and them grows, especially after civilians have almost one hundred percent. Military doctors are more and more tasks: from the treatment of wounded in the rear and participation in the military medical commissions to constant rotation trips.

Those 85% of military doctors who came from civilian life at the beginning of the war actually put their lives on a pause. Many people are destroyed by families because parents or mother see their children once a month, and maybe less often ”, – the doctor shares.

At home, a beloved wife and son are waiting for a doctor. Mom worries both Alexei and his younger brother, who also joined the army.

« I have a young son. And I understand that all that I do is for the sake of him and other children. That the war does not inherit their generation, – summarizes the military surgeon.

Alexei Nolya urges all Ukrainians to join the defense and help the military, as a « truce » can only become a pause for increasing the enemy’s forces.

« Everything should only work for defense, as it was in Britain during World War II. That is, work in defensive plants, work duties for the entire population and mass and quality military training for anyone who can keep weapons. But it is only my a little fantastic vision, because most of our country lives in our country.« , – the doctor says.