Ukraine war: Injured soldiers aided by Hampshire amputee

A quadruple amputee has visited Ukraine to help soldiers who have lost limbs in the war.

Disability campaigner Alex Lewis met more than 40 injured men in February and told them about his life with prosthetic arms and legs.

The 43-year-old from Stockbridge, Hampshire, said he wanted to give the soldiers a "glimpse of hope" as well as to research Ukraine's disability needs.

Mr Lewis' trust is involved in medical campaigns and developing new equipment.

During the visits to Kyiv and Lviv, Mr Lewis said he saw doctors fit charity-funded prostheses to a soldier who had lost his arms in an explosion.

The campaigner said: "He was 23. He looked empty through his eyes, and we were able to fit him with two soft-shell prosthetics.

"Within 45 minutes... he went from not really seeing what lay ahead for him to actually being given something that he can use.

"He could eat independently, he could write his name. It was too much for me, I couldn't stay in the room."

Mr Lewis said some of the amputees he met wanted suitable prostheses to allow them to return to the front line.

He said he saw no civilians in wheelchairs during his six-day tour.

"Where are they? A lot of buildings have no disabled access," he said.

"Ukraine is not set up for anyone in a wheelchair and there's going to be an awful lot of wheelchair users coming through this conflict."

The campaigner said the country needed neurological rehabilitation expertise and better equipment for amputees.

He said he hoped to bring together universities, companies and medical experts to offer advice and practical help.

Mr Lewis, a father of one, lost his limbs and needed facial reconstruction after contracting strep A and septicaemia in 2013.

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