Our Story

52-year-old Mikhailo Navalov devoted his entire life to Ilyich Iron and Steel Works of Mariupol. At the enterprise, he worked his way up from a mechanic to the deputy head of engineering of the cold rolling shop and the hot strip rolling shop 1700.

When the war broke out, Mykhailo took his family to Poltava. He was returning to Mariupol by car to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, when he hit a mine on Volodarska highway after he drove to the side of the road, letting a convoy pass. Ukrainian military called an ambulance that took the man to a hospital in Mariupol. Mykhailo underwent surgery on his leg there.

Soon the hospital where Mykhailo was staying was left without light, gas and electricity, and then massive shelling began. Amid the shortage of medicines and difficult basement conditions, the man developed sepsis.

In early April, the occupiers took the hospital patients to Novoazovsk. From there Mykhailo was sent to Starobeshevo, where they tried to cure sepsis. After filtration, the man was taken to Taganrog. The Mariupol resident underwent surgery in a Russian hospital and was assured that he would be able to walk.

Mykhailo managed to find a carrier and go to Ukraine through the Estonian border. After returning to his relatives in Poltava, he went to the local hospital. However, the diagnosis was disappointing: his leg had to be amputated from the knee down. Under the government program in Poltava, the man received a low-end prosthesis. Mykhailo has already fixed it twice. And it is not very convenient to use it: neither to go to the garden, nor to make renovations.

Metinvest called Mykhailo’s wife, offering a better prosthesis. This is how the company’s employee became a participant in the prosthetics program of Metinvest's Saving Lives humanitarian project and the Prosthetics Support Project in Ukraine.

The man has received an Icelandic highly mobile prosthesis and is now getting used to it. “The prosthesis is really convenient, I liked it. You just need to get used to it. Its manufacturer is one of the world leaders in this field. I am very grateful to Metinvest for their help,” says Mykhailo.

After a certain trial period, the specialists will adjust the prosthesis again and make final adjustments so that I can continue to use it. 

Mykhailo is optimistic:

“I hope that Mariupol will be liberated, and I will return to the city to rebuild the plant. After all, I have devoted all my life to the enterprise and know it inside out. I believe that I can be useful in the rebuild of the plant, so I want to live a full life. The most important thing is not to give up, and everything will be fine. Good luck!”