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Transcript/ScriptUSAGM
PLAYBOOK SLUG: Boxing on Prosthesis – Kosstutschenko
HEADLINE: Injured Ukrainian Soldier Adapts to Losing Limbs, Eyesight
TEASER:
PUBLISHED AT: 11/17/2023 at 10am
BYLINE: Anna Kosstutschenko
CONTRIBUTOR:
DATELINE: Kyiv, Ukraine
VIDEOGRAPHER: Pavel Suhodolskiy
VIDEO EDITOR: Pavel Suhodolskiy
SCRIPT EDITORS: KEnochs; Reifenrath
VIDEO SOURCE (S): VOA, Story Hunter
PLATFORMS (mark with X): WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO __
TRT: 2:33
TYPE: TVPKG
VID APPROVED BY: KE
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO))
[[Andriy Danyo was seriously wounded in April while fighting Russian troops in the Donbas region. Although he lost his right arm and leg and most of his eyesight, that hasn’t stopped him from staying active. Anna Kosstutschenko has the story from Kyiv, Ukraine.
((NARRATION))
((NATS)) ((Boxing))
((NARRATION))
Already an army reservist, Andriy Danyo volunteered for active duty the day after Russia invaded Ukraine in February of last year.
In early April
((Mandatory courtesy: Andriy Danyo))
2023, he came under fire on a combat mission in the Donbas
((End courtesy))
region and was severely wounded.
((Andriy Danyo, National Guard of Ukraine (male, UKR)))
“I felt my hand being torn off, and my leg hurt badly. I could not walk, so one of my comrades carried me out, and then an evacuation vehicle took me out of there. // Then I got painkillers and woke up the next day in Dnipro.”
((NARRATION))
Danyo’s mother, Svitlana Fedorovych, was mistakenly notified of her son's death.
((Svitlana Fedorovych, Andriy Danyo’s Mother (female, UKR)))
“But then we started digging through our channels and found out that he didn’t die but was in a hospital in the city of Dnipro, in an intensive therapy unit.”
((NARRATION))
((Mandatory courtesy: Andriy Danyo))
After being treated in Dnipro, Danyo was sent to Kyiv for rehabilitation.
((End courtesy))
Today, he is training under the supervision of
((Mandatory courtesy: Inna Didych))
former professional football player Inna Didych, who works for the charity
((End courtesy))
Doctors Without Borders.
In 2020, Didych left the pitch to become a physical therapist. She says a prosthesis not only replaces a lost limb but also forces the body to change and adapt.
((Inna Didych, Doctors Without Borders)) ((female, UKR))
“The healthy leg will carry most of the weight. That’s why it should be trained to be strong. The same goes for the core and ab muscles. // And in the process, he trains not just muscles, but faith and self-confidence.”
((NARRATION))
It’s Danyo’s second month living with a prosthesis. And despite these new adjustments, as well as his mostly absent eyesight, he never misses a day of boxing training.
((Svitlana Fedorovych, Andriy Danyo’s Mother)) ((female, UKR))
“I am proud of Andriy, now more than ever, because recovery is very difficult and painful… It was difficult to accept his new condition, but at some point, he accepted the situation and moved on. The post-injury path consists of small steps – you just wake up in the morning and do what you can do, and keep going forward, little by little.”
((NARRATION))
Day by day, Danyo improves. The doctors here say a cornea transplant could restore some vision in his left eye. And while he may not fight again, he is alive, and getting a bit stronger every day.
((Anna Kosstutschenko, VOA News, Kyiv, Ukraine))
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