Youngster on road to recovery after missile strike
When a missile struck her home in Ukraine, two-year-old Lisa lost the use of her legs. Now she is on the road to recovery, thanks to her parents
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A few months ago, two-year-old Lisa was quietly eating dinner with her parents in their kitchen in Bakhmut, in Ukraine’s Donetsk region. It was due to be the family’s final evening at home before they fled the war – their suitcases had already been packed and lined up in the hallway. Then, suddenly, a rocket flew through the house.
Inna, Lisa’s mother, has suffered a complex fracture of the left forearm and a craniocerebral injury as a result of the strike.
“We were about to rest. If we had gone to rest a few minutes earlier, we probably wouldn't have survived. We fell. I covered Lisa, and my husband covered us both. My husband was hit more than we were.” - she recalls.
Neighbours helped the family to reach a nearby bomb shelter. Several days later, after fleeing Bakhmut, they watched footage of their five-story apartment building collapsing.
In Dnipro, Lisa was admitted to the intensive care unit in serious condition, with a shell fragment lodged in her lower back, a fracture in both of her bones in her right shin and numerous wounds. As soon as she was stabilised, she was transferred to the National Rehabilitation Centre ‘Unbreakable’ of the First Medical Association of Lviv.
Today, Lisa can no longer use her legs. Recently, she saw her first snow of the year, while sitting in a wheelchair far away from home.
Pavlo, Lisa’s father, is determined to help his daughter recover. He and Inna hope to continue her rehabilitation abroad.
“I will play football with her and go fishing,” Pavlo says, hopefully.
