Lviv doctors save soldier with urgent heart transplant after war injury

Lviv cardiologists have successfully performed a heart transplant on a Ukrainian soldier, Vasyl Tsypivko, whose existing hereditary heart condition was exacerbated by war injuries, according to a May 20 Facebook post by the First Lviv Territorial Medical Association.

Tsypivko, a 49-year-old rifleman from Shklo village in Lviv Oblast, joined the military in March 2022. His service was cut short eighteen months later when he was injured by a Russian projectile, leading to significant health complications.

"I started experiencing shortness of breath," Tsypivko recounted. "Walking just five meters became a struggle. I couldn't even tie my shoelaces because I was out of breath."

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Medical evaluations later confirmed that Tsypivko suffered from dilated cardiomyopathy, a hereditary condition that his combat injuries had severely aggravated. Doctors determined that a heart transplant was essential for his survival.

The opportunity for a transplant arose on May 7 when a suitable donor was identified in Odesa Oblast—a 37-year-old man who had died from brain injuries sustained in a car accident. His family's decision to donate his organs gave Tsypivko a chance for a new lease on life.

Facing a tight four-hour window to keep the heart viable, and a 600 km distance between Lviv and the donor site in Odesa Oblast, the medical team acted quickly. They prepared Tsypivko for surgery and transported him to the city of Balta in Odesa Oblast, where the transplant was successfully performed at the local city hospital.

"The operation was a success, and the very next day, doctors returned to Lviv with the patient," the medical association noted. Remarkably, Tsypivko was walking by the second day post-operation.

Ten days after the surgery, Tsypivko was discharged from the hospital. Reflecting on his ordeal, he expressed a profound sense of gratitude and awe: "It's some kind of miracle! I couldn't believe it. I went to the operation as if to war. But here I am, alive, with a healthy heart beating in my chest."

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Read the original article on The New Voice of Ukraine