His smile is full of light, and the positive that he emits, charges all living things around him. When you listen to it – I want to applaud. And this is not about Oleg Vinnik, but about the Zhytomyr citizen Oleksandr Shvetsov, who, having lost his leg during hostilities, was burning with a desire to help, inspire, change the lives of those who fell in trouble and need attention and care. In his interview, Alexander Shvetsov told Zhytomyr.Travel about life, which was divided into two parts: before and after the war, about the love of travel and life-affirming initiatives that bring people the joy of life
«Before the war I worked as a sales agent in one of the trading companies of Zhytomyr. I was not looking for anything else, because this work brought me pleasure and money that at that time met my needs»
«I had a «little family» on Field. She did not suit me, so I decided to sell her and make an apartment next to her mother’s house. I was supposed to be assigned to the army. And I came to the military committee, where the military commissar told me that at the moment people with such a military specialty, as I (from the automobile, are the commander of the separation division), are in need in the East of the country. To be honest, I did not understand that there was such a serious war there. The guards were standing in the army, and the commissioner asked them, «Do you go?» They said: «I’m going». And when it came to turning to me, I could not say no. So I was in the 30th individual mechanized brigade. We were sent to a military training ground near Mykolayiv, where we learned to shoot from all kinds of weapons, from tracked vehicles, to launch military grenades. Special Forces were prepared from us (Laughs). We were quite well taught us»
«I considered the sincerity and kindness of the war to be weak, after the war I consider it a force»
«In early May 2014, I was in the ATO zone and stayed there for about three months. In July, I was seriously wounded – in the Kharkiv hospital I ampulsed my leg. After Kharkiv, I and many other guys were sent to the Kiev hospital, where people came to us from all over Ukraine: who supported the word, who brought Olivier, who – fried potatoes, and thus took us from the depresnjak, in which we at that time were»
«The most critical moment – when you find yourself behind the walls of the hospital. When you are on its perimeter, all of you are cherished, fed with spoons, comforted: «Sanya, you will all get out». Going beyond the walls of the hospital, you realize that life is not like you are portrayed»
«The endless visits of comrades, brothers, friends began. Everyone had to drink for 100 g, and if he did not drink – insulted the second: «Yesterday you and Valik drank, and today do not drink with me». I realized that it was necessary to somehow quit and choose the direction in which to move. And I remembered that I love traveling»
«After the ATO I always had a headache. I gave in private clinics analyzes that turned out to be bad. And then he agreed to take part in a photo project, whose curator was Solomiya Vitvitskaya. We wanted to show the guys who went through the amputation that you can live with it. The initiators of the project «beat» me a trip with pilgrims to Lourdes. I remember that I had passed the tests on the eve of the trip, and bad results came to my mail. The bus took us to Lviv, we had to get to Lviv. I left Zhytomyr on my own car. As he approached Ivanivka, he checked the post and realized that the analyzes were overwhelming. I returned to consult with a doctor. He told me that I had to go through the survey. Phone to Solomiya Vitvitsky and I say that I will not be able to go, but she is convinced to go. And I’m going … I swim in the holy baths, I pray, I ask for health for myself, for relatives, for my sister. I come back from there and dream of me, that a man in black calls me to myself, I bend to him, and he twists around, twists around my head. I woke up, and from that moment the head of the pain stopped. After that, I had the idea to take the boys there so they could see what I saw and asked for what I asked for. I thank God for what he is in my life»
«I was digging the Internet, found tickets on the site of the company «Ryanair». In what country was found cheap tickets – there and fly. I saw Italy, France and many other countries. When he met with his siblings, he told them about his travels. But I have seen that some of them do not even have a normal mobile phone – and this has depressed me. I had a dream come true: to show them what I saw, so that they touched what I touched, that they might feel what I felt»
«I wrote a post on Facebook that I have a «bead» for 20 passengers and I dream of showing my fellow France. I needed someone to pay the fuel and hotels we would live in. Within a few hours, the post typed thousands of reposts. Subsequently, I was called by a Kiev an who volunteered to assume our expenses. Thus, my fellow countrymen saw Europe. Part of the money was provided by the city authorities. They knew that I was organizing this trip, and that we did not stay close to the Sprint, provided us with a comfortable bus. In this tour, 19 soldiers injured in the ATO area saw Krakow, Prague, Lourdes, Nuremberg, Paris. In Nuremberg we were met by the Ukrainian diaspora. Lourdes is the place where the military comes to pray for peace around the world. There are baths with holy water, plunging into which many people recover. I felt for their healing influence. We went to the mountains of Pyrenees, bathed in Genoa in the Mediterranean Sea, floated in Venice on the gondolas, visited Budapest. After this journey, my journey became my «drug»
«I wanted to show the boys summer in the winter. I wrote a post again. He did not become so popular as the previous one, but I “tramped” my friends – looking for opportunities. There is nothing accidental in life. Once participated in a tournament organized in Pokrov for prosthetics guys, and met with the mayor of the city. When he saw that it was difficult to raise funds for a trip to Egypt, I decided to “punish” it. Thus, 20 boys spent a week in the best bay of Egypt, in Naama Bay»
«I have new ideas-fixed, which God will give, will become reality. Two weeks later I traveled to Disneyland with 20 children of fallen brothers along with their mothers, in May I will accompany the veterans’ bus to Lourdes, in July with 20 siblings we go to Bosnia via Croatia to the holy place – Medjugorje»
«I have an electron busofheroes@ukr.net, there is my organization in Zhytomyr – «Brother Brother», the corresponding page on the network, where I publish information for those who want to go on a journey. Immersed send me their stories. Those who need this are going: the greatest weight is the degree of injury and the fact whether a person was abroad or not. I hate when someone from my friends says: «Take it, take it»
«I believe in God and believe that this helps me in everything. Some things in this life happen through us. We help those who need and ask God for help. So help comes to us. It’s just kickback, a chain: if you give something to people – it’s coming back … Sansara» (Laughs)
«I want to raise the vitality of my brothers, who for the second time have to learn to walk. I’m still going … I decided to organize joint walks in the water park, which will allow them to be pulled out of the house. It’s fun to talk with each other, to solve some problems. I will be happy if it benefits at least two or three people»
«Life was divided into two parts … I overestimated it completely. Before the war, I had problems of type, which shoes sneakers or lack of down jacket. Now I understand that this is not a problem at all: no matter what you go. The most important thing is people around you, your health»
«I have enough to live … I do not think about tomorrow. You know, birds do not think that they are waiting for them tomorrow – they live today. It seems to me that we all have to live that way»
«I love Zhytomyr. Perhaps our city is a little bit gray, but it turns. We have good people. I always want to go on a trip, but after two or three days I already want to come back. When you go to the city in the evening or early in the morning – you’re kidding that you know every street here. You are here – oh, this is your hometown. Zhytomyr – as a family yard like a native school»
Translated by Aliona Matushevich
