Narek Aleksanyan, a conscript who received shrapnel wounds to his head and leg in Jrakan, Jabrayil, on the fourth day of the war, miraculously survived. He is now considered a person with 3rd degree of disability, but receives a regular pension instead of a military one.
Narek’s mother, Knarik Aleksanyan, is submitting applications to state institutions, first demanding to change her son’s disability status, and then to provide him with a military pension.
“My son served in Kapan. On September 4, the boys were taken to Jabrayil for military exercises. My son was injured there. On the evening of September 30, their car was exploded. Only my son survived, out of 9 people… He says they went to get water and when they came back the lieutenant told them to get in the car quickly and move. Narek sat in the lieutenant’s place and the lieutenant sat in Narek’s place… My son tells that suddenly they heard a sharp voice. It turned out that it was a drone that bombed their car. After that, he does not remember what happened,” says the mother.
When the soldier regained consciousness, he witnessed cruel images: all the servicemen were killed, some of them were torn into pieces.
Narek received three shrapnel wounds to the areas of his head and right leg.
The wounded soldier was transferred to the Republican Hospital in Yerevan, where his mother was warned that a serious operation would take place and Narek might not be able to withstand it, but the mother gave her consent. Fortunately, a miracle happened in this case as well: the operation went well, the doctors managed to remove two pieces of shells from Narek’s head, but they did not remove the third one:
“Doctors say the third fragment is in my son’s brain. They said that if they touched it, the child could fall into a coma or be paralyzed, and, if he survived, he would be bedridden for the rest of his life. On the same day, another boy was operated on with Narek, who had a very similar injury. But he could not stand the operation and did not wake up after it. Now the shrapnel is in my son’s head and that is why he is not allowed to do any physical work or exercise. Even if he raises 1 kg or moves sharply, the piece left in his brain can move and kill him on the spot,” said the soldier’s mother.
Ani Gevorgyan