Neurosurgeon Dmytro Kubryak, without neurosurgical instruments and under fire, performed an operation on the open brain of marine Pavel Sambur in the bunker of the Illich factory in Mariupol.

And then for both there was captivity and release.

They were looking for each other to meet.

Dmytro to find out about her husband's condition, Pavlo to thank for saving his life.

The story of TSN. 19:30 tells about the incredible story of the rescue.

Dmytro Kubryak cannot enjoy the feeling of freedom after being captured.

Hellish weeks at the Ilyich factory, then more than 5 months of captivity.

He was one of the few doctors of the Dnipro military hospital who at the beginning of the war agreed to go as volunteers to the surrounded Mariupol.

2 doctors and 2 anesthesiologists from Dnipro flew on a helicopter on April 1.

Then these helicopter raids with military personnel and ammunition to help the defenders of Mariupol will be called "flights to immortality".

He got to the Ilyich plant.

There was an improvised hospital and 300 wounded soldiers in the bunker.

A hundred wounded people passed through his hands.

The scariest part of this experience, Dmytro says, is that he had to sort the wounded.

Due to the lack of hands, doctors chose who to save first.

One day, 6 seriously wounded people were brought into the bunker.

Among them was a hopeless one, says Dmytro.

A marine with a penetrating wound to the head, who immediately fell into a coma.

By all indications, medical help was useless for him.

But when all the first-line seriously injured were operated on and the doctors had a pause.

He and his colleague, anesthesiologist Yuri Mykytchan, decided to try to help.

The marine had almost no chance of survival

In the conditions of the bunker under explosions, airstrikes, without special neurosurgical instruments and blood-stopping drugs,

 Dmytro and his colleagues dare to perform open brain surgery.

Three days after the operation, the patient comes out of a deep coma.

He begins to respond to pain, after a few days he opens his eyes.

In seven days, he begins to say his name - Pavlo.

And finally get back on your feet.

And then the marines from the Ilyich factory and the entire hospital with the wounded are captured.

The Russians asked the doctors which of the prisoners was the heaviest, because they were ready to take 4 soldiers to the hospital in Donetsk.

When they hear that a neurosurgical operation was performed in the bunker, they don't believe it.

Thus, Dmytro and his patient's paths diverged.

And he did not even expect to see him again, because the risk of inflammatory complications is extremely high.

And he thought that Pavlo would not be able to cope.

A month later, the seriously wounded are returned to the colony from the Donetsk hospital.

Dmytro sees Pavel alive among them.

After his capture, he was in the Dnipro hospital, later he was transferred to a medical institution in Lviv, and now he is in one of the rehabilitation centers in Truskavets.

Now he walks, talks.

However, he does not remember the circumstances of the injury and rescue. 

Pavlo does not remember Dmitry, but he really wanted to meet him.

The moments in the bunker, the capture, have been erased from memory.

Dmytro sporadically remembers only moments in Donetsk.

None of the doctors can explain 

.

As with the loss of a third of the right hemisphere, the functions are preserved.

Pavel only has problems with coordination and speed of movements.

Pavel should be fitted with a plate that will cover the skull defect.

His family dreams of returning to Berdyansk when it is de-occupied.

And wait for my son to be released from captivity - he, like dad, is also a marine.

Dmytro is comforted by the meeting with Pavel.

He has almost recovered from captivity and is ready to return to the operating table.

If he has to make a decision to work on the front line again, he will not hesitate.

And although the case with Pavel is beyond medical explanation for him, he knows for sure that this is another confirmation that in a critical situation all the resources of the body are mobilized.

We will remind, on December 1, Russia and Ukraine conducted another exchange of prisoners.

In particular, 14 defenders of Mariupol, including 8 defenders of Azovstal, were released from captivity.

Most of the freed Ukrainians have wounds and injuries.

Some have amputated limbs or are unable to move.

Read also:

• Following the example of Medvedchuk: detained UOC (MP) priests can be exchanged for captured Ukrainians

• "They were there every morning and every evening": Ukrainian women released from Russian captivity shared what they experienced in captivity

• Will there be an "all for all" exchange between Ukraine and Russia: Ombudsman Lubinets answered

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