Oleksandr Chaika is a choreographer and acrobat who lost his leg at the front but was unbroken inside. Oleksandr was sent to the 24th Mechanised Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to serve in Popasna, Luhansk Oblast. His main duties were to evacuate military equipment and observe the enemy.

On 6 April 2022, Oleksandr took up his observation post. In the morning, the enemy started massive artillery fire. One of the shells hit his trench.

It went through the ground right to the spot where Oleksandr was sitting. The man was immediately thrown to the side and covered with beams. The shell hit his leg and miraculously did not explode. It took about an hour to dig Oleksandr out of the ground. This was enough time for gangrene to form. Later, doctors from Dnipro decided to amputate the leg to save the man's life.

Oleksandr was suffering from phantom pains that he could no longer bear. And one day he woke up and felt relieved. That day he underwent an amputation. The man says he was not afraid, he just thought about how he would continue to teach.

But the previously strong and athletic man was now unrecognisable. Almost six months of immobility led to muscle atrophy. So Oleksandr had to learn to walk again.