With the help of Anti Pigul, a prosthetic technician at East Tallinn Central Hospital, Ukrainian soldiers who have lost their legs in the war are receiving new knee prostheses. Many of the soldiers want to return to active life or even to the front lines afterwards.
Anti Pigul, a prosthetist at East Tallinn Central Hospital, works with soldiers who have lost their legs in the war in Ukraine and who, in cooperation with a Ukrainian charity, are now receiving new prosthetic legs in Estonia.
“We have agreed on which people we will treat and who we can provide with prostheses. Most of them are men with lower limb amputations who want to return to active life or even to the front lines. We give them the opportunity to defend their homeland again,” Pigul explained on Vikerraadio.
Prosthetic technology is developing rapidly. “In just a few years, a new knee joint has come onto the market that can analyze a person’s position and movement thousands of times per second. It recognizes whether a person is walking, running, moving backwards, or riding a bike and adjusts itself accordingly,” Pigul explained.
Fitting prostheses of this type requires specialist training. “A company representative comes to Estonia, trains us and then we do everything with the patient using a computer: we walk, test them on stairs and try out the different modes. The new knees even have an app that allows the person to change some of the settings themselves,” Pigul said.
Read more: ERR.EE
