LIVONIA, Mich. – At 26 years old, Andriy Mazuryk lost his arm on the battlefield in Ukraine.
On Tuesday (April 11), 5,000 miles away from the warzone in Livonia, he got a brand new prosthetic custom-built to fit his needs.
The 26-year-old Ukrainian soldier sadly lost his left arm above the elbow in the war against Russia while evacuating wounded soldiers in eastern Ukraine in May of 2022.
Now he has a new lease on life with a state-of-the-art prosthetic.
“I was on the battlefield, and I got caught in the crossfire,” said Mazuryk.
Ryan Sheridan is the upper limb specialist helping Mazuryk with the custom device, which uses what’s called a myoelectric hand that responds to the limb that’s left.
“There are sensors inside the socket that detect little electrical in his muscles,” said Sheridan. “So, when he tightens his biceps, for example, it closes the hand and turns the wrist down. When he fires his tricep muscle, that opens the hand and turns the wrist up. So he’s controlling everything with just his two muscles.”
Thanks to a collaboration between Livonia’s prosthetic care provider, Hanger Clinic, and nonprofit RSUkraine and Brother’s Brother, Mazuryk was recently able to travel to Detroit multiple times to ensure the new prosthetic was a perfect fit.
“It feels great,” Sheridan said. “It’s kind of what gets us out of bed and gets us to work. We love helping people. We love fitting people with prosthetics and helping them return to their normal lives.”
“I’m getting used to it slowly but surely,” Mazuryk said.
Mazuryk will be traveling back to Ukraine in a few days. Great to see Metro Detroit doing great things.