Sasha is five years old and has no left forearm: after the elbow joint, the hand ends with a neat stump. Together with her dad and grandfather, she is waiting for her first artificial hand to be tried on. Every half hour, a specialist, the head of the traction prosthetics department, comes into the playroom. In his hands is a bathtub and a small soft tube made of hypoallergenic material. The tube is called a stump, or a sleeve, a stump is inserted into it, and due to this, the prosthesis is held on the limb. Each sleeve is individual, it must be ideally adjusted to the shape and size so that it sits on the hand as comfortably as possible and does not rub anywhere, and the prosthesis is held firmly at the same time. Therefore, Sasha has been waiting in the children's room for four hours: fitting the sleeve is a painstaking business and requires a lot of patience. The specialist moistens the sleeve in water and gently puts his hand on Sasha: "Is it convenient?"

Sasha trying on a prosthesis

Elizabeth Queen

The sleeve rubs the skin, the prosthetist remembers what needs to be corrected, and again goes to the laboratory to modify the device. The girl thinks about something, easily sits on a cross twine on a bench and begins to draw. “Warm up for now,” her father says. Sasha is engaged in taekwondo: once a coach noticed her and invited her to the section.

Experts believe that people, especially those with hand injuries, mature age get used to using one hand and it is much more difficult for them to learn how to work with an artificial hand.

Usually, the younger the child, the faster he learns the prosthesis. For him, rehabilitation becomes a game, an interesting task for mastering a new gadget.

The pinnacle of excellence for people with artificial hands- master fine motor skills(insert a thread into a needle or paint your fingernails with varnish).

When Sasha is finally brought her new prosthesis (which will also be refined if inconveniences are found in the first weeks), she quickly begins to take square cubes and thin wooden plates from the table, clamp them with artificial fingers and hold them in weight.

Ulyana is 11 years old, she and her parents came for her first prosthetic forearm from Belarus. The new hand gives in to it much harder. The prosthesis is not bionic, but traction: you need to bend elbow joint, and due to the tension of the cables, the fingers will grip the desired object. Ulyana tries to grab the doorknob, but from habit, her shoulder rises, and her fingers cannot hold the object.

Ulyana learns to use a new hand

Elizabeth Queen

Although the prosthesis is lightweight, this exercise is a heavy load for the muscles of the stump and shoulder, and the arm gets tired quickly. At home, the girl needs to learn how to properly tighten her muscles so that she can use the prosthesis like a normal hand and she does not have distortions in her posture.

Ulyana looks up at her new hand in frustration and compares it to the real one, right. “I think that when you are twenty-five years old, the robotic arm will already be cooler than the real one. And now you need to develop the muscles of the stump in order to be ready to put on the most advanced prosthesis in the future, ”the prosthetist reassures her. “Good,” the girl replies, but it is clear that she is not happy with such exercises, which she will have to do regularly.

Rehabilitation therapist Konstantin Bitelev has been putting people on artificial legs for the past four years. In his experience, the most responsible students are women, they know how to clearly and conscientiously follow all the instructor's instructions:

“The main thing in this business is self-control. It is imperative to carry out ordinary household activities at home using a prosthesis, and not just train in the gym for an hour a day. When a patient comes to me and I see that he is not working with a prosthesis at home - and this is immediately evident - I stop working with him. You can start to move around on an artificial leg in a week, but learning to walk is a process for six months or longer. "

Creation of a child traction prosthesis

Elizabeth Queen

Konstantin tells and at the same time follows his student Dmitry, who is mastering his first right hip prosthesis. While the 25-year-old guy is uncertainly moving on a prosthesis, leaning on crutches, but the result is still amazing, given that this is his third lesson, and before that he spent a year in wheelchair... “Dim, are you in a hurry somewhere? - the therapist asks. - Straighten your back and walk again correctly. Better slowly but clearly. " The last words can be a motto for all people who are learning to use artificial legs and arms.

"Cyborg" from

A modern bionic prosthesis brings its user so close to the image of a cyborg or terminator that it seems like another fifteen years - and artificial body parts will become more perfect than natural ones, and people will voluntarily implant fake arms and spines in themselves. The bionic prosthesis works like a reading device: sensors mounted on inside of the prosthesis, they catch the electronic impulses that the muscles send, and the fingers are bent in the right way, that is, they make a certain grip.

Substitute a shoulder for a person with a prosthesis

According to Deblikov, the lack of a society of people using a prosthesis greatly inhibits prosthetics in our country: “People who lose limbs - dozens of people every day across the country - are in a complete information vacuum. They need information: they do not know where to go, which prostheses to choose and how to get them, they do not know what certificates need to be issued. The Internet also does not give unambiguous answers to these questions, there is a lot of different information, but it does not add up to a general picture. "

Tatiana Pustovalova found herself in such a situation. In 2014, she and her husband were riding a motorcycle and got into an accident through the fault of a drunk driver. For a week, the doctors tried to save the leg, but in the end they had to amputate it below the knee.

In the hospital, Tatyana was almost not told about rehabilitation and prosthetics, although the patient's treatment is just beginning with amputation.

During the month that the girl was in the hospital, she developed knee contracture: she could not fully straighten her leg. During rehabilitation, I had to first solve this problem and only then get used to the prosthesis. Tatyana did not know that immediately after amputation, she needed to do exercise therapy and load the muscles of the stump, because at rest they constantly strive to contract.

Tatyana, like Konstantin Deblikov, believes that a society of people with prosthetic limbs could make life easier for everyone who underwent amputation: “While I was in the hospital, I started looking for people with amputation on the Internet, and I already had a certain the image of a disabled person: this is an unhappy, wretched person who asks for help. But I saw beautiful young girls and guys who led a fulfilling life, and I myself was very motivated. And still very great importance had life hacks that the guys shared with me: they told me that in the bathroom you need to make a handle for convenience, advised what creams to use, what kind of exercise to do. "

Before the accident, Tatyana went to the gym, and after that she decided that amputation of her leg was not a reason to quit classes. The girl turned to the coach, but he rather rudely explained that he would not work with people with disabilities and people like her. “It was a big blow for me, because it is difficult for a person to feel complete, despite the absence of a limb. And it's also hard to overcome the fear that you have an artificial leg and that you can fully step on it. " A gymnastics coach came to the aid of the girl, who agreed to train with her for free. First, Tatiana worked with a group of pensioners, and then, individually with a trainer, she learned to crawl on all fours, squat, squat down - to do everything she knew before the accident.

Dreams of space

At the beginning of this summer, Tatyana's dream came true - they made her "cosmetics" (facing on the prosthesis, which closes and protects its mechanism. - "Gazeta.Ru") with space airbrushing. “There were times when I was offered to close the prosthesis with a long skirt, because“ you are so beautiful, and the prosthesis spoils you terribly ”. In fact, I always took it very calmly, did not worry much. But if boys can walk outside with mechanisms, then it is important for me to preserve the volume of the prosthesis so that I can wear skirts and calmly put on tights on both legs. So I ordered "cosmetics" and

I really like the way my prosthesis looks like a tattooed leg. Now I can walk with my skirt up proudly ",

- Tatiana laughs. By the way, Tanya returned to the motorcycle, as well as to the gym. At first, it was uncomfortable to sit on a motorcycle, but the seat was altered specifically for her fit, and now she is an avid motorcycle passenger.

This summer, Alexander Pankratov walked with the girl around the city, wearing a short-sleeved T-shirt. This seems like nothing out of the ordinary, but not for a guy wearing a black prosthetic left hand. Passers-by stopped and asked him what was wrong with his hand, but Alexander was not embarrassed by such interest: “Let people come, I will gladly tell them about my prosthesis. Better to let them be interested than you yourself will go and try to draw attention to your problem. "

Dmitry Ignatov trains 5 to 10 times a week

(source:)

I often joke that I was attacked by a bear or a rare jellyfish ate my leg on the set of a documentary, and miraculously survived. In reality, everything is more prosaic. In the army, an S-300 rocket launcher fell on me, which turned out to be incorrectly installed. The principle is simple: there is a trailer, to which a car drives up and picks up the installation, which is either in a combat state or in a stowed state. On that ill-fated day, she stood unevenly, I passed by, and she fell to one side. Everything happened so quickly that I did not have time to react. It seemed that I was lying under the installation for an eternity (in reality, no more than 20 minutes). After the crane came, and freed me from the installation. Unfortunately, I did not lose consciousness, I remember absolutely everything except the moment of the fall itself. I remember how I shouted, prayed, I remember how they closed my eyes so that they did not look at my leg, held my hand, tried to divert attention. Everything is like in the movies. I passed out already in the hospital, without a leg.

The first thing I saw: the face of my mother, who told me “now is the XXI century, we will make you the best prosthesis in the world”.

I myself am very positive and it helped me tremendously. I remember how a girl psychologist came to the ward. She started asking questions and made a conclusion: "I need a psychologist, not him." But there were, of course, unpleasant moments, fear. Once in the hospital I dreamed of the Nazis, a shootout, I even described myself in a dream. It was very embarrassing. But under drugs like I was, that's okay.

In the hospital, I almost immediately asked my father to bring dumbbells, I really wanted to do it, because I have always loved sports. And, in fact, my life after the trauma has not changed much: I was an active person and remain so. Unless I have more disabled friends now.

There are social aspects related to the perception of people. Let's say you are standing in a hospital or in some institution where you have the right to skip the line, but they do not want to let you through. You say: “I am disabled. Can I skip the line? " They answer: "No, you can't." Then you say, “Look, I do Paralympic sports. It is possible that I will soon defend our country. You can go?" But it turns out that some people here do not even know who the Paralympians are.

In Zurich, I took fourth place on the Kibatlon. In Russia, I plan to participate in "Cybathletics", a project of the "Motorica" ​​company, where they call me the host, but I am preparing specifically for the competition. Now I am preparing for the Russian Swimming Championship. I love rowing, crossfit, running, swimming.

At the time of the injury, I was considered a military man, received compensation from the Ministry of Defense, it was enough for the first installment for an apartment in Mytishchi, where I live, and for part of my first prosthesis.

Generally speaking, there was a responsible person in this story, but he raised a child, so in the family we decided to sue not with a person, but with the ministry. I also received a leg for 3 million "from the state." But I do not take it as a gift, I think that I rented my prosthesis, I, like everyone else, pay taxes. It’s sad to think that the money was spent on bureaucratic excesses, it’s more pleasant for me to think that they went for a good deed - the leg of an amputee.

But not everyone is given a leg like me. To get it, you need to prove to the state that you are an active citizen, not sitting at home. After all, many receive prostheses and do not wear them. They put it in the corner of the house to collect dust. In fact, without a rehabilitation system, it is not so easy to get used to a prosthesis. Even I am still learning my new prosthesis, I walk with a limp.

In this sense correct system in Iceland, where at first a person is offered a trial mechanism - a simple one, but with sensors that can be used to track how often you use it. When you hand over a test prosthesis, there are two options: either the indicators are at the level, then you are given an expensive classy prosthesis, or you do not use it, and then why do you need a prosthesis for 5 million?

In Russia, there is only some kind of questionnaire in which one can easily lie. In my case, there is an option to look at social networks, but in most cases this, of course, cannot be done. If you do not lie, then you need to knock out. This is again a theme with desire and desire. If you just sit at home, they won't bring you the prosthesis you want. You need to make an effort.

My pension is 15 thousand rubles a month. You can go to almost all museums for free, travel by public transport in Moscow. In the Moscow region, they give only four seats in each bus, so I am fighting for them with other beneficiaries.

There is also a bonus when obtaining Schengen visas, you do not have to pay the consular fee. This also works with accompanying persons, you bring a friend and say that he is your accompanying person, altogether, and you have visas.

Sometimes there is free parking in shopping centers. Although, as a rule, everything is occupied by non-disabled people. In the subway, too, it happens in different ways. After all, I have every right to sit in the carriage. I have no leg, I have a certificate. But here you often come across accusations, so I either stand or, if I'm very tired, I use a signature trick.

I have a secret move to rudeness and aggression, especially when, after a hard workout, I go home in a tram or subway and an evil "aunt" starts shouting at me: in response to the shouts and lamentations "young man, you don't want to stand," I just I take the prosthesis in my hands and rotate it 360 degrees. Some run to the end of the carriage, get out, some even cross themselves. But most, of course, feel ashamed. Pursing their lips, apologizing.

My leg can do everything that a normal leg can do. There are no restrictions. I can run, walk, play football. My blow is even stronger with an iron leg. Recently I even mastered skating. My prosthesis, like all bionic ones, has "brains" that calculate the pace of walking, speed, some have GPS. In total, I have three prostheses, one for 2.5 million, but it is broken, it has already exhausted its resource; the second - running, with a curved foot; the third is everyday, I use it most often, but I still get used to it, walk unevenly, limp. I try to work on this every day.

With prostheses, just like with gadgets, something new comes out every year. My current prosthesis, for example, holds a charge longer. In addition, it is waterproof, I can easily go with it into the shower, pool, even into the sea. By the way, there are prostheses that are more expensive than 3 million. Such single prototypes that know how to wiggle the fingers with which you feel, is it smooth or rough, hot or cold. I can't experience this with my cyberfoot. But even if I buy such a prosthesis, I will not be able to use it, because I will have to constantly live in the country of invention, contact the developers.

In general, one must understand that a prosthesis is a constructor. Mine, for example, has three parts. The main one is the sleeve. Where the leg is inserted. It is created from a cast in Moscow. Next comes the knee module. He's German. Then the foot is Icelandic. But you can change these parts for your tasks - take them from different companies, the main thing is that it is convenient for the cyborg. For example, if you give my knee to some grandmother, she will not cope with the prosthesis, she simply will not understand how to use it, will not be able to dispose of all the functionality.

Apple video starring Dmitry Ignatov

Personally, the word "disabled" does not hurt me, unlike my mother. And yet it is more correct to say “cyborgs” about people with prostheses, people are augmented. Any change in a person is cyborgization.

I believe that disabled people are the first people on the planet who experience new gadgets on themselves, so that ordinary people, healthy people lived a fulfilling life in the future.

At the same time, of course, it is incredibly sad that there are not even ramps in Moscow. The only elevator in the crossing that works is on Prospekt Mira. I think wheelchair users will confirm that everything is terrible with the ramps. Of course, something in Russia for people with disabilities done, only very slowly.

In the summer, I was more than once approached with claims in the spirit of "What the hell are you in shorts?"

Several times, however, funny stories happened: people tried to give me alms, just like that. I was just learning to walk then and was with a crutch. There is a bucket on it so that if your hands are busy, you can put something. While I was walking with him, they shoved money into me three times. In the subway, the guy was even offended when I didn’t take it, calling me “snickering”. At my home station, Mytishchi, they generally suggested standing and collecting alms. The salary is fixed, 70 thousand rubles a month. They still come up to me from time to time, asking if I have matured.

I'm sure there is no need to be afraid. See how people with disabilities from different countries live, take an example or wait for better times. I am sure that initially you need to force yourself, then it will become a habit. You need to negotiate with yourself, set personal records.

"Today I left the house, tomorrow I will go to the store." If you are a wheelchair user and live on the fifth floor of a Khrushchev building without an elevator, you need to surround yourself with the right people. I'm sure they are. You just need to write to someone or ask. People fly into space and climb Everest without two legs, and here is the fifth floor. Just motivation is required.

Anything motivates me, my dog. Books, mom. Emotions. And my mom is wonderful. I love her so much.

I try to explain that this is not the case. Not all disabled people are like that. There are also active, smart, intelligent guys who want to improve, to benefit others. Unfortunately, many people in our country do not understand this. I know many cases when friends without arms or legs came to the hospital, and the doctors told them "Don't scare people!"

This is especially noticeable in the older generation, which perceives a person according to appearance how correct or wrong he is, and not at all according to his ideas and actions.

Young people are completely different. We grew up with other examples. Remember 1 + 1, The Simpsons, Futurama, Forrest Gump, American Dad? We calmly accept such people. Therefore, today people with disabilities can hang out in nightclubs, this is normal. Unfortunately, however, only in large cities.

Right now, I dream of winning the Russian Swimming Championship. In the future - to move somewhere to the sea, fish, play with your dog. I have a French Bulldog, this is something incredible!

I also think people need to be a little kinder. At stops, in queues, in ordinary life, not only in words, you need to smile, think if you will cause harm and pain, and only then say something, and then our society will change, then we will evolve.

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Maria told MedNovosti about the fight against Ewing's sarcoma, about life after amputation and why she needs an Instagram page.

How it all started

Three years ago, I felt numb in thumb right leg... I didn’t attach much importance to this (you don’t pay attention to such trifles) and continued to live my life - raising children, going to trainings, doing housework. Then there was a pulling slight pain in calf muscle... I have been involved in sports since childhood, and athletes are always drawn and sore, so I did not pay attention to this either.

One day a bump grew on my leg. I went to the doctor, they told me what it was. On the advice of doctors, for almost a year I smeared my leg with gels, warmed it up, and did massage. Then it so happened that I got an appointment with an oncologist. I had an MRI scan and a puncture. The diagnosis - Ewing's sarcoma - blew me away. To top it off, they found metastases in the lungs. And they said that my affairs were bad. 4th stage. I couldn't believe my ears. I didn't believe it was the end.

I said that I knew nothing, I would live. Then everything was like a nightmare.

Amputation. High-dose chemotherapy and all the attendant consequences: feeling unwell, hair loss, mood swings and tears. But I wasn't going to give up. Life is one, and it is worth fighting for it with all your might, even if it seems to you that the test is too difficult and will never be the same.

Now everyone is en masse going abroad for treatment - to Germany, Israel. But I underwent surgery and treatment at the Rostov Oncological Institute. Everything was on the highest level: international treatment protocols were used, I received all drugs under general health insurance, free of charge.

New life

And here it is, the long-awaited remission, victory over the disease, my victory! AND new life... Life without a leg, without my long hair. A comfortable and beautiful prosthesis was made for me in the Krasnodar prosthetic rehabilitation center. I got a chance to be happy and interesting life... After all, there is a difference between the prosthesis and the prosthesis, a large role is played by the stump sleeve, where the remaining limb is placed. The liner should not crush, rub or be too loose.

My prosthetist Alexander Pereverzev has golden hands. He feels the patient and takes into account all his whims. And I am very capricious. I asked him difficult task: to bring me back to my old life as much as possible. I remember taking my first steps on a prosthesis three months after amputation. It was very painful and scary, but at the same time it was fun - I was overwhelmed with emotions because I was again on two legs, again regaining independence and freedom of movement.

Fall to go forward

I created an Instagram page with one goal: I want people with disabilities in Russia to stop sitting at home within four walls and start appearing in society. Especially girls. It is doubly difficult for them.

It's hard to lose a leg. After all, legs are one of the symbols of female beauty. It's terrible to realize that if before you were looked at with admiration, now it is with pity.

For a long time I did not dare to go out. I have come a difficult path - both psychological and physical. I trained for eight hours a day, hobbling around my apartment with an uncomfortable training prosthesis after exhausting high doses of chemotherapy drugs. At first, it fell a lot on the street, because our roads leave much to be desired. But still I continued to train, step by step, bump by bump, overcoming obstacles, I went to the cherished goal - to walk a lot and well.

Before going outside, I looked out the window to see if there were people there. I was shying. When I walked to the store and limped, I thought that everyone was looking at me, because I had no leg. And when spring came, and after it summer, and everyone put on beautiful summer dresses and shorts, I sobbed and asked myself: why? But she quickly reassured herself, because tears and regrets cannot fix the matter.

Then I went to my prosthetic company and asked to make me a beautiful stylish prosthesis, with patterns and drawings.

I decided: let them look at me, let them point a finger, but I will still wear summer clothes - shorts, skirts and dresses.

First with friends, now I walk alone. Of course, they turn to me, but I think this is normal for a country where people with disabilities are almost not socialized. I really hope that this situation will change. A person is determined not by how many arms and legs he has, but by what fills his soul, what he thinks about.

Now I take care of my family and housekeeping, I drive a car, teach people to walk on prostheses, and especially try to support those who have been diagnosed. Neither cancer nor loss of limbs is a death sentence. Inside each person there are inexhaustible resources of will and strength that can lead to victory. The main thing is not to give up. Never.

American Pnina Ullrich, who also lives with a prosthetic leg, has a video blog. In it, that it is not scary - in this way she wants to change the attitude of society towards people with disabilities.