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Henrik from Vanadzor is one of the young men injured during the 44-day war. Henrik knew about the possible hardships of war since he was a student at the military academy. Yet, he could hardly imagine he would be forced to put the theoretical knowledge into practice following the completion of his mandatory service. Though his path has been thorny and his memories are hard to bear, Henrik has never regretted the choice he has made.

“We were on a regular assignment, doing our regular job, when I felt all of a sudden I couldn’t control my body; I felt I was falling on my back… and I realized all of a sudden that I was actually wounded. My fellow servicemen helped me and rushed me to the medical station. But I have never ever regretted; and I have learned a lot. I had the knowledge, but lacked practice. I now have both. I know that we have to work hard now and in the future. And the process of learning has to be a continuous one, a never stopping progress in terms of both the development and technologies, so that we never get into the same situation and win the next battle.”

Henrik makes some observations along the path of moving to the next level changing from wheelchair to orthosis. Every hardship that has been overcome is just another victory, he says. As Henrik saw his physiotherapist, he saw himself make the next step forward; he has started to walk again, and now is set to be able to run again. He is committed to succeed at work, and spend his free time making music. Despair has no place in his soul. He loves setting goals and achieving them.

“At the beginning walking again was a hard task, but then, along the way, I did it as I took more classes, and switched to walking sticks, then, as I got the orthoses, my options grew. For example, I wear the orthosis during activities, and feel the minimum discomfort. The orthosis helps me do more,” Henrik says.

“Without an orthosis, you can’t even think of running. That’s extremely risky and traumatic. In a sense, the orthosis is necessary. Orthoses give a chance to return the running ability, restoring the biomechanics of walking,” Aram Melikyan, physiotherapist, says.

Ensuring orthoses for servicemen wounded during the 44-day war has been prioritized by Viva-MTS and the “Help Heroes” (Homeland Defender’s) Rehabilitation Center. Orthoses are frequently needed to avoid post-traumatic complications and as part of rehabilitation programs for soldiers with injuries of spinal cord, brain, upper and lower extremities. The advanced orthoses purchased by the partner organizations do not limit the movement, are lightweight, and are dynamic and functional owing to the elaborate mechanical jointing and structure. The orthoses are able to fix the posture and ensure easy movement. This equipment gives injured soldiers an opportunity to restore physical autonomy and significantly increase their quality of life.

The joint program implemented by Viva-MTS and the “Help Heroes” (Homeland Defender’s) Rehabilitation Center engages a wide range of medical and other specialists, including prothesist, orthosist, rehabilitation specialist, physician, acupuncturist, physiotherapist, ergotherapist, and other invited specialists. The main purpose of orthoses is to ensure proper anatomic fixing of posture to ease the load on injured joints or extremity, as well as activation and correction. These efforts allow minimizing the load on the human spine and the joints and preventing excessive tension in muscles.

The program is envisioned for 3 years. For that, Viva-MTS has allotted AMD 120 million to the “Help Heroes” (Homeland Defender’s) Rehabilitation Center to purchase 100 units of orthoses.