During the February protests on the Maidan, Volodymyr was shot in the head. In Ukraine, he underwent initial surgery during which, the bullets were removed from his head.
However, shards were embedded very deeply and doctors feared further treatment. Volodymyr underwent another operation in Poland. It has taken the wounded Maidan activist a long time to make his decision whether to undergo surgery, as the doctors were not able to guarantee that they would be able to find and remove shards without damaging his facial nerves.
Natalia Basko, the psychologist working with the Open Dialogue Foundation, gave Volodymyr psychological support, both before and after surgery. She also helped as an interpreter in conversations with the doctors and anesthesiologist, she accompanied him as he was recovering from anesthesia and passed on information about the patient’s health condition to his family.
