When the war began, I took off the prosthesis to be myself: the story of a strongman from Berdyansk, who conquered the world record

life changing accident

Spring 2019. At present, Vladimir Moisey is already quite a successful athlete, a master of sports in powerlifting, a practicing psychologist, and is engaged in the protection of children’s rights in the office of the children’s ombudsman. A car accident that happens in May instantly changes a man’s whole life.

“I was a child protection rights expert from the Commissioner of BP. At that time, a boy lived with us in Berdyansk, whose father died, his mother was antisocial and the social services did not know how to help him. I was traveling on May 2 on this boy’s business, Vladimir recalls. - There was a tornado on the road. He came from the field, a large depth of the earth flew under my wheel, this whirlwind began to turn my car, shook it, my left hand was outside the open window, the next moment I saw that my hand was already on my knees, blood was pouring. I kicked down the door, got out of the car, holding my severed arm. A lot of people were passing by on the road, but no one was stopping. Then, nevertheless, a man stopped with a woman who helped me.

Vladimir was taken to the hospital, but it was no longer possible to save the severed arm.

“The fact is that I was in the hospital for a long time without help. Later, the doctors told me that if I received benefits within 5 hours, they could sew my hand on and everything would be fine. But I was without help for about 11 o’clock, my hand turned black and became unusable.“, - says the man.

Doctors’ forecasts about Vladimir’s future life were extremely disappointing.

“Doctors gave me the following forecast: either I will always lie down, because I survived a very strong blow, or I will die, because I have lost about 60% of my blood. But after two days I already started walking with a drip, after 5 days I was transferred from intensive care, after a month and a half I was discharged from the hospital, and after three months I already got to the competition and fought with the guys who had two hands, taking third place, and in half a year set a record of Ukraine”- recalls the athlete.

On the way to records

In 2020, Volodymyr Moisey got into the book of records of Ukraine by lifting a barbell weighing 250 kilograms with one hand in a deadlift.

Vladimir remembers his first trip to the gym after the accident.

“I was like a frightened child who came into this world, looks around and asks where is mom? You think that everyone is looking at you because something is wrong with you. Only later did I realize that people were looking at me because they saw that I wanted to recover, and it was more like a respectful look: “You can do it!” – says the man.

And how is it to do a power sport, working with extreme weight when one limb is missing. Vladimir admits that his own invention helped him - a special strap attached to his shoulders.

“It is very effective in the context of rehabilitation. Now I want to patent it so that guys who lose limbs can get the same straps and practice, ” Strongman explains.

But February 2022 is coming. Berdyansk, native to Vladimir, is occupied by invaders in the first days of a large-scale invasion. A man begins to actively engage in volunteering, but one day he finds out that the road to the city is closed to him.

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“I left in April to bring humanitarian aid. But I could not go back, because I was included in the lists as a public figure, volunteer, patriot of Ukraine. I was warned that if I entered, at best I would be taken prisoner, and at worst, everything could end tragically. So I evacuated my family. But it was a very difficult operation when you are here and your family is there, and there are 25 Russian checkpoints between you.“, - says Vladimir Moses.

The athlete takes his family to Switzerland, and he returns to Ukraine to help the front. But the dream of a world record does not leave the athlete.

“I travel a lot to hospitals for wounded soldiers, I work there as a psychologist, trainer, rehabilitator. Unfortunately, that’s why I didn’t have the opportunity to fully prepare for the competition: eat right, rest, sleep enough. And in the evening you come to training already exhausted. And still I tried to practice at least three times a week. ”- Strongman admits.

In honor of the family and the Armed Forces

And in March 2023, the dream of Vladimir Moses becomes a reality. The man ends up in the USA at the Arnold Sports Festival, the world’s top strength competition, which has been organized by film and bodybuilding legend Arnold Schwarzenegger for many years. A kind of “Golden Globe” in the field of power sports.

“It’s like the Olympic Games. In the US, these competitions have about the same authority. At this festival there were powerlifting competitions, I did class traction. As an adaptive athlete in the 100kg category, I lifted 260kg. I wanted 280, but it didn’t work a little. I understood that I could do it, which is why I first swung at 280 kilograms. But I think that next season I will succeed. Yes, and 260 kilograms was enough for a world record. A person with one arm lifts less than 240 kg. Among the guys with both hands, I became the seventh. That is not the last one. But the whole essence was just in adaptive athleticism. Thus, I once again showed that Ukrainians are a very strong people.“, says Vladimir.

Read also: He loved football most of all: the invaders claimed the lives of a 29-year-old fighter-athlete

The athlete dedicated his record to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and his own family.

“I dedicate this record to our defenders, the guys who lost their limbs. This is the very first message. But to our children and my wife, so that they can see an example that life can be different, but it can even be better, even though we are losing something physically., says the strongman. - I wrote a psychological recovery program for people who have lost limbs, and it is very important for me today to show the Paralympic Committee that there is adaptive sport, it exists in Europe and the USA, and there people after injuries, including those received in the war, can recover, practice sports that they have played in the past. And an adaptive athlete can go out and fight both regular athletes and adaptive ones.”

However, despite all the tragedy of the great war, Vladimir admits that it was this crisis that helped him stop being afraid to be himself.

“I was able to fully accept myself as a person with a disability, with all the possibilities and impossibilities, only after the full-scale war began. I took off my cosmetic prosthesis, which I had previously worn. I realized that, on the contrary, it prevents me from being faster and more mobile, and I don’t even remember where I have it. Loved myself the way I am. I am happy about this, because now I look more organic and natural than I really am. ”- sums up Vladimir Moses.

You can learn more about the rehabilitation of soldiers and victims of the war in Ukraine, as well as assistance to Ukrainians with disabilities who have received asylum in the EU countries, on the website of the organization EnableMe Ukraine.

Recall the 21-year-old Ukrainian who set a unique Ukrainian record: “At school, my classmates insulted me, and then I watched the movie Kickboxer with Van Damme.”