"Ihor saw a missile heading towards Ohmatdyt." How a Chernihiv family survived a missile strike for the second time
The Verbytsky family, whose daughter Ksusha was injured in the missile strike on the Chernihiv Drama Theater on August 19, 2023, were in Kyiv on July 8 during a massive missile attack by the Russians. We wrote about Kseniia Verbytska's rehabilitation after last year's Chernihiv strike here: 14 surgeries on her arm: How the life of a 12-year-old girl changed after a Russian missile strike.
On the morning of June 8, the Russians hit the toxicology building of the Kyiv children's hospital "Ohmatdyt" with an X-101 cruise missile. In the neighboring building at that moment were the Verbytsky family from Chernihiv: 13-year-old Ksusha Verbytska, who was injured on August 19 last year during the missile strike on the drama theater, and her parents, Lada and Ihor Verbytsky. Ksusha and her mother had returned from England. They came to "Ohmatdyt" for the 15th surgery on the girl's right arm.
— We had a planned admission to the hospital, — says Lada Verbytska on July 9. — It was around half-past ten in the morning. We had just arrived and went up to the third floor of our department. We were filling out documents at the desk. Our belongings were still in the car. And then it all started. At first, the explosions were muffled, as if far away. We quickly started going down to the first floor. There is a basement there. Our dad, Ihor, was sitting in the car, waiting for us to come for our things. While we were going down, I called him: "Do you hear the explosions? Run to us quickly." "Yes, yes, I'm coming."
And then it hit hard. When Ihor was running to us in the basement, he saw the missile flying towards "Ohmatdyt." He was running and saw it flying at great speed, — repeats Lada. — He miraculously managed to jump into the lobby, and small pieces of glass started falling.
We were standing near the entrance to the basement. After the explosion, there was a glow. Debris, dust, it was unclear what was flying. The wiring started smoking. We panicked: what about our dad. He was all covered in blood. His back, head, legs.
The air raid alert was still ongoing, and they announced increased danger for Kyiv. We were supposed to stay in the shelter, but they were taking us outside. Because everything was smoky, it was hard to breathe.
The impact was at most 100 meters from us. All the windows in our building were blown out. Not a single one remained intact. When we went outside, we threw away my husband's shirt — it was torn and bloody. The medics offered help, but we refused. We were removing glass from Ihor's back and legs ourselves. And we decided to go home as soon as possible.
We couldn't get out for a long time. The roads were blocked. Firefighters, ambulances, all services were working. We stopped at the nearest gas station. Washed his back from the blood. We removed the large fragments, but there were still many small ones.
The car was also damaged, but that's minor. We were lucky to park behind the building. Usually, we drove up to the main entrance. That's where we left the car. But all the spots were taken, so we had to go around. This saved it.
We got home around four in the afternoon. My husband went to take a shower. And then we were removing fragments from his body again. In his hair, in his head. One hit his leg, hitting a vein. The next morning it was still bleeding.
— You must have a strong guardian angel.
— I don't even know what to think. Why does this follow Ksusha… To be near an explosion for the second time...
— How is she feeling?
— Yesterday was stressful. Today is easier.
— In May, you and Ksusha went for a consultation in England. They gathered a board of doctors, took an X-ray of her arm. They allowed the cast to be removed. They said it needs to be developed, to find a rehabilitation therapist. They suggested surgery. The queue was for the end of August. Only after that, six weeks later, Ksusha would be able to fly.
The English doctors said our doctors did everything well. They were just surprised at the number of surgeries. She had already had 14 on her right arm, the longest lasted 7.5 hours. Waiting until the end of August was too long, so I called our doctor at "Ohmatdyt" and arranged for him to do it. As for now… We will take a day or two to rest. Then I will call. Maybe the surgery will be done in another hospital.
If you would like to help Kseniіa Verbytska, write to the editorial office, and we will share Lada Verbytska's card details with her permission.
