Viktor Openko was helping civilians board evacuation trains as rockets rained around Khutir-Mykhailivskyi train station in northeastern Ukraine. It was May 14, 2024, six miles from the Russian border.
“People started running in every direction,” Openko recalled. “With shells exploding, it was very difficult to get them on the train, but we succeeded and sent them out of the city early to prevent more casualties.”
After the train departed, Openko was injured in an explosion. Military medics acted quickly to pull him out of danger and bring him to a hospital where his left leg was amputated below the knee.
Ten months later — and 5,000 miles away — Openko became the first Ukrainian to receive a prosthesis thanks to a partnership between the Knights of Columbus and the Protez Foundation, a Ukrainian-American nonprofit organization based in Oakdale, Minnesota. The support represents the latest of several partnerships the Order has developed with hospitals and health care organizations through the Ukraine Solidarity Fund, which has raised more than $24 million in humanitarian aid.
“Our collaboration with Protez creates a meaningful synergy,” said Ukraine State Deputy Mykola Mostovyak. “Together, we can reach more people in need, offering not only medical assistance but also restoring hope and dignity to those affected. Through this work, we continue to live out the vision of Blessed Michael McGivney by standing with the marginalized and offering compassionate support to those who need it most.”
Openko’s journey took him from the wrecked trainyard to a hospital bed in Kyiv; from a Knights of Columbus Mercy Center in Warsaw, Poland, to the Protez rehab center in Minnesota — and finally back to his homeland.
“I am infinitely grateful,” Openko said, reflecting on his trek. “I hope others will be as lucky as I was — meeting wonderful people along the way.”
THE DAY EVERYTHING CHANGED
With a wistful smile, Openko recalled that he had a “wonderful life” before the Russian invasion. “I had a family, children, a hobby — beekeeping,” said Openko, who worked as a train repairman. “Everything was good, and I was happy.”
After Russia’s attack in February 2022, daily life was fraught with fear and danger, especially since Openko and his family lived in Hlukhiv, 10 miles from the Russian border.
More than two years later, on that fateful spring day last year, Openko and his coworkers were checking a train’s brakes when Russian artillery shells began exploding all around the station, sending up orange flames and a deafening roar. As panic broke out, Openko and the crew worked frantically to fill the train and send it out of the station 30 minutes earlier than scheduled, saving passengers from tragedy.
Openko and his coworkers then noticed that the shelling had damaged the electrical substation, and they ran to repair it.
“We did what we needed to do, and that’s when I got hit,” he said. An undetonated shell that had lodged in the ground exploded, sending wreckage into the air and onto Openko. In a moment of clarity amid the smoke and ringing in his ears, he remembered that his wife, Natalia, worked at a kindergarten nearby. He could just see from where he lay that the school was on fire.
His physical pain gave way to the pain of not being able to run to her aid. “I was not worried about myself; I was worried about my wife,” Openko said. Thankfully, she suffered no injuries.
After being pulled from the debris, Openko was brought to the hospital in Shostka, some 30 miles away. The lower part of his leg was amputated but he was still at risk of losing the knee joint, so he was transferred nearly 200 miles southwest to a hospital in Kyiv.
“The doctor told me, ‘Viktor, this is such an important part of the body that you need to fight for it,’” Openko recalled.
Over the next several months, he endured many difficult medical procedures. At the conclusion of his treatment in September 2024, Openko returned home to Hlukhiv, but his journey was far from over.
A friend’s son, who had also lost a leg in the war, introduced Openko’s daughter, Alina, to the Protez Foundation — an organization that provides prosthetics and rehabilitation to Ukrainians in need as a result of the war. With the partnership between Protez and the Knights of Columbus, Openko’s dream of walking was within reach.
HEALING BEGINS WITH WELCOME
State Deputy Marek Ziętek of Poland, where Knights have helped facilitate treatment for amputees, summed up the Order’s support: “Someone has to give them a chance to return to normalcy.”
In February, the Knights of Columbus Mercy Center in Warsaw, Poland, hosted a welcome reception for Ukrainian amputees — including Openko — before their departure to Minnesota.
The event brought together Knights from St. Clement Hofbauer Council 17050, Ukrainian children who have found refuge and support through the Mercy Center’s programs since 2022, and the children’s mothers, who prepared the meal.
“We will pray for you, for your families, for your children, for your departed loved ones, so that you too, in the near future may live to see peace in Ukraine,” Paweł Rakowski, grand knight of Council 17050, told the patients.
The children served by the Mercy Center gave a musical performance — including the Ukrainian national anthem — visited with the patients and presented them with gifts such as handmade bracelets and drawings.
“It was important for us to involve the children,” said Father Damian Simonicz, chaplain of Council 17050, noting that children are among those impacted most by the war.
“We adults often hear about the war — we talk about it while watching TV or browsing the internet,” he said, “but children cannot truly grasp what this war really brings.”
One Ukrainian girl shared her experience meeting Openko: “He is very cheerful and kind, with a great sense of humor. At first, it was difficult for me because I recently lost my uncle, who was also named Viktor. But when [Openko] explained that ‘Viktor’ means ‘invincible,’ I suddenly started crying. He comforted me, and I felt better.”
Vasyl Tymosh, a Protez Foundation volunteer, also attended the event. He helps coordinate transfers from Warsaw to the foundation’s clinic in Oakdale, a suburb of St. Paul, Minnesota. The care that patients receive from physical therapists, psychologists and prosthetists, Tymosh explained, can be truly transformative. “After receiving a prosthesis, they feel better, more confident and self-assured,” he said. “It completely changes them.”
State Deputy Ziętek added: “While prostheses can restore some physical agility, they also help people regain psychological and mental strength, knowing they are not alone.”
‘NEVER LOSE HOPE’
The day after the meeting in Warsaw, Openko boarded a plane bound for Minnesota.
The rehabilitation was intensive from the start; as soon as he was fitted with his new prosthetic limb, physical therapy followed.
“Every morning began with exercises ... we had to train the joint to prepare the leg for the next steps,” Openko explained. “And then we started walking. You want to take a step, but it’s very uncomfortable and painful.”
Openko was impressed by the Protez team’s expertise and encouragement. He recalled especially the motivational words of his doctor.
“He told me that the most important thing was not to give up, and that the disability was mostly in my head,” Openko said. “Once I changed my mindset, I would walk.”
In addition to daily rehabilitation sessions, Protez organized trips to show patients around Chicago, including the Ukrainian-American neighborhood and museums. The visit helped them connect with diaspora communities.
“It was an incredible feeling,” Openko recalled, describing the warmth and generosity offered by volunteers and local residents alike. He also formed connections — and keeps in touch — with fellow Ukrainians who traveled to Minnesota for prostheses.
Upon his return to Ukraine on March 28, Openko met with State Deputy Mostovyak in Kyiv at the Parish of St. Basil the Great, home to St. Basil the Great Council 16250.
“I’m extremely thankful for what I’ve received,” Openko said. “I want to see the Knights flourish, and I wish there were more of them, because so many people like me have suffered from this aggression.”
With thousands of Ukrainians still requiring prostheses, direct aid like the partnership with Protez has a tremendous impact, said State Deputy Mostovyak.
“The Ukraine Solidarity Fund is truly changing lives,” he explained. “In Viktor’s case, this support helped him quite literally stand again — not just physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well.”
Still, Openko’s journey to recovery continues. “I’m already walking. It’s still a bit hard,” he admitted. “But, as the rehab specialists said, it takes time.”
If the past year has taught him anything, he added, it’s this: “You must never lose hope — that’s number one.”