Mykhailo Ya. Stasiv

Mykhailo Stasiv is a surgeon, a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, a major in the medical service, and a volunteer military medic of the 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade. Mykhailo Stasiv was born on November 21, 1968, in the village of Haivoronka, Terebovlia district, Ternopil region. After finishing local school in 1983, he continued his education at the Buchach Agricultural Technical School. He participated in combat operations in Afghanistan. The horrors of the Afghan war changed Mykhailo's views on life and opened a desire to help people in preserving it. In 1989, he became a student of the preparatory department of the Ternopil State Medical Institute (now Ternopil State Medical University named after I.Ya. Horbachevsky), graduating successfully in 1996. His years of study at the medical institute, combined with work as a nurse in the surgical department of the Ternopil City Emergency Hospital, strengthened his spirit and confidence that he was on the right path. After graduating from the Ternopil Medical Institute in 1996, he worked as a surgeon, head of the surgical department, and deputy chief physician of the Ternopil City Communal Emergency Hospital. Since 2013, he served as the deputy chief physician for the examination of temporary disability at the Ternopil Center for Primary Medical and Sanitary Care. The tragic events in the country, the war in Eastern Ukraine, did not leave Mykhailo an indifferent observer. In August 2014, he volunteered for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served from August 11, 2014, to September 12, 2015, as a senior orderly of the medical company of the 128th Separate Mountain Infantry Brigade. He took direct part in the Russo-Ukrainian war: from September 3, 2014, to October 14, 2014, in the city of Popasna, Luhansk region; from October 15, 2014, to February 25, 2015, in the village of Luhanske, Donetsk region (Debaltseve bulge area); and from May 20, 2015, to September 12, 2015, in the Stanytsia Luhanska district of Luhansk region. As he went to war, he dreamed of saving at least one life, but instead, he saved hundreds. Mykhailo Stasiv was a participant in the battles for the city of Debaltseve in Donetsk region. Fulfilling his professional duty, he repeatedly saved the lives of wounded soldiers in field conditions under heavy fire and constant shelling, risking his own life, demonstrating remarkable courage, heroism, and bravery. He often conducted military-medical evacuations. Frequently, while under enemy fire, as if "born in a shirt," he emerged alive and unharmed, taking the wounded with him. Before the shelling from "Grad" systems, he assisted in operating on the wounded at the Svitlodarsk hospital. On January 25, 2015, he conducted the evacuation of the wounded during the battle for the Ukrainian military stronghold "Valera" (height 307.5) near the village of Sanzharivka in the Artemivsk (now Bakhmut) district of Donetsk region during the battles for the city of Debaltseve. He was among the first medics who had to establish surgical and resuscitation work in the combat zone. Near the village of Stanytsia Luhanska, he helped many civilians. On February 25, 2015, for the first time in over six months, he returned home for a short leave. Tired, gray-haired, and emaciated, but happy that he managed to do what he went to war for — to preserve the health and lives of Ukraine's defenders. For 13 months, with his professional skill and bravery, he saved the lives of Ukrainian fighters. He returned alive from the front, but the war and what he had to endure there caught up with him at home — Mykhailo Stasiv died on April 1, 2016, at the age of 47 due to sudden cardiac arrest caused by an acute heart attack. The conclusion of the military-medical commission of the Western region dated July 13, 2016: "The disease and cause of death are indeed related to the defense of the Motherland." Mykhailo Stasiv is a winner of the public project "First People's Primaries 2015" of the 100 best Ternopilians of 2015. He was awarded the Order of "Honor and Glory," the medal "For Defenders of the Fatherland," the award "For Courage and Mercy," and the award from the Ternopil City Council. Posthumously, he was awarded the "For Merits" award, the title of "Honorary Citizen of Ternopil," and the Order "For Saving Lives." He is buried in the Alley of Heroes at the Mykulynetske Cemetery in Ternopil.