Yevhen, a leg amputee, is raising awareness on how to react to injured soldiers: Put your hand on your heart and smile

by Lysychka-

6 comments

  1. 39-year-old Yevhen Syvoplias is from Chernihiv. He joined the military from the first days of the full-scale war. In February 2024 he was injured under Avdiivka and lost his leg.

    Before the full-scale war, Yevhen worked as a cutting operator at a company that manufactures sports equipment. The war caught him at work during a night shift. He recalls that on the very first day, russian troops were advancing through the Chernihiv region.

    He was wounded three times. In February 2024 he stepped on a mine and lost his leg. But what struck him was how civilians were looking at him when he left the hospital.

    “They turned their faces away, lowered their eyes. It felt as if I were a monster or a leper, that there was something wrong with me, that society didn’t accept me. I realized that it shouldn’t be this way, that it needed to change, and that’s where this idea was born,” said Yevhen Syvoplias.

    He decided to shoot a video with advice on how civilians should behave if they encounter wounded soldiers like him.

    Yevhen’s advice: don’t look away, but rather meet their eyes. If there is eye contact, place your hand over your heart.

    “You can smile, you can give a slight nod. There’s no need to approach and hug — that could be too much,” says the soldier.

    Additionally, after losing his leg, Yevhen realized how important help with daily tasks is. He recalls going to a supermarket in Lutsk and finding that carrying a basket with weight was a significant challenge.

    He says it would have been very helpful if supermarket employees or other shoppers had offered assistance, but that didn’t happen.

    To draw civilians’ attention to this issue, in addition to making videos, Yevhen Syvoplyas is walking streets with posters that read “Put your hand on your heart and smile” and “Don’t look away, I’m not a monster.” He also visits local schools and talks to students about this.

    He hopes to get a prosthetic leg and return to the front.

    [https://suspilne.media/lutsk/745253-boec-sturmovik-z-amputacieu-organizovue-zustrici-z-luckimi-skolarami/](https://suspilne.media/lutsk/745253-boec-sturmovik-z-amputacieu-organizovue-zustrici-z-luckimi-skolarami/)

  2. There’s always been a major issue how people treatment wartime amputees for some reason. Many people will praise the dead for the sacrifices, but often get uncomfortable when they see a person who sacrificed a limb or parts of their body instead.

    Like in the US, Trump made a comment about how he didn’t want to have any soldiers who had suffered amputations from taking part in the military parades because “people don’t like to see that” and I find that so stupid.

    You can deal with people losing their lives, but aren’t able to stay normal about someone losing a leg or an arm?

  3. Important work that he is doing.

    Nobody knows how to react or behave in unfamiliar, uncomfortable situations. Sadly, this situation – encountering severely wounded war heroes – is going to be a common part of life in Ukraine for this generation. I think it is great that Yevhen is giving people positive suggestions for how to respond in ways that are appropriate, that acknowledge the hero’s sacrifice without being too intrusive.

  4. Thanks for sharing his story! Such a simple thing to do, hand on heart and smile-while meeting their eyes- to make them feel less like a “leper”, (as he said). Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦🇺🇦

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