Artiom

Nathalie Halbout is in Kyiv, Ukraine.

This is a true story. To protect privacy the names of staff and patients were changed.

“Natasha, do you want to feed Artiom?” I hear the hospital dietary aid Lena addressing me.

It would be an honor, I reply.

He is 52 and he was wounded only 3 weeks ago in Chasiv Yar (the city russki has leveled to the ground and the same city from where I met so many refugees).

The notion of being a “feeder” unsettled me, as if it granted me power over someone vulnerable, someone dependent. I could feed a baby, a kitten… but not a soldier…even though gravely wounded.

No matter how badly wounded, a Ukrainian soldier will always be seen as far stronger than I am.

So when entering the room I cheerfully asked "Artiom, would you like me to help you eat?.”

He energetically nodded” yes”.

Armed with only a spoon I surprised myself how adroit I was at dissecting the fish in the smaller pieces and removing the bones.

Artiom, I say, please eat slowly as there might be still some tiny bones inside.

"Small bones won't harm us," he said, as he gently moved these delicate bones onto my hand with his lips. He is a voracious eater, and he swallows fast as if in a hurry…

“I have all the time in the world, Artiom. You can take it slow with the buckwheat.”

Buckwheat is a staple of Ukrainian cuisine and is believed to be the most nutritious and full of useful microelements. Spoon after spoon, the dinner is gone. Time for dessert, the best part of the meal.

I discovered a container with bite-size pieces of cantaloupe and a big bottle of Coca-Cola. Artiom’s wife left it yesterday, when she came for a weekly visit. She lives about 4 hours away and has to work full-time, so she can only visit once a week.

I am about to wash the spoon, but Artiom protests, "Don't bother, I'll just lick it clean." I nestle a piece of cantaloupe in the spoon, keeping the other palm right under in case it decided to slide off.

The cantaloupe is gone in just a few minutes., to be followed by a big glass of Coke.

“I love the tingly bubbles on my tongue. It is so refreshing”, Artiom exclaims.

I feel like I can take credit for something, and I proudly say” Americans developed the Coke. I like it too”.

When the war started, Artiom and his wife were working at a water pumping station in the north of Ukraine. Within days the town was surrounded and heavily shelled, causing its residents to hide in basements for about two months. When the enemy was pushed back Artiom decided to join the armed forces-" I had to do something. We could not back down. Behind my shoulders, there is my country, my family, my wife, my kids, and my friends.”

Having a foreman position, he felt that he was not essential- "My guys knew exactly what to do even without me. All I needed to do was to make their schedule". We chuckled at his attempts to minimize the importance of midlevel management.

He was sent to the hottest zone- to the east of Ukraine. He recalled the fateful day “We were about to evacuate this old lady and her teenage grandson from their home. It was too dangerous for them to stay as the enemy was approaching fast and have already destroyed most of Chasiv Yar. She was taking too long to get to the armored vehicle and all of a sudden I felt the force of the explosion and I saw blood gushing from my left arm. I managed to put a tourniquet around it and pulled it with my teeth. Then there was something else that landed nearby. At that point, I was already on the ground and my leg was covered in blood…”

Eventually, he was rescued by his brothers-in-arms. Now he is missing an eye, part of his teeth on one side, the left arm, right arm only has two fingers that are non-functioning, a shattered leg with exterior metal apparatus, multiple shrapnel wounds, and smaller shrapnel pieces lodged all over his body. He wears his wedding band around his neck, as there is no healthy finger to put it on.

Looking at his right hand he muses” When I go back to work, I wonder how I can hold a pencil. I no longer have a thumb. Thumb is so useful in doing anything by hand”. Before I say anything, he adds “My wife put in an application for a bionic hand. There are thousands of applicants though. I hope they will reach out to me”. There are many months of recovery and several more surgeries ahead.

When I am about to leave I hear Artiom’s roommate being loud on the phone “ So you left his body out there. When? A couple of days ago? You could not retrieve him because of heavy shelling. Do you promise to get it when the shelling eases? His mother would like to have a proper funeral”. #redbanknj #redbank #wounds #power #monmouthcounty #monmouthcountynj #jersey #truestory #reality #cocacola@highlight