A British humanitarian volunteer who lost his arm and leg while working in eastern Ukraine said he "shouldn't have made it."
Eddy Scott, from Dorset, has told GB News about how his humanitarian van was targeted and struck by an FPV drone while he was evacuating civilians in Pokrovsk.
The 28-year-old had started to work in Ukraine after seeing the invasion by Russian troops in 2022, saying he "felt like he had to do something."
Scott said that he noticed the situation in the east of the country getting worse before he was attacked on January 30 of this year.
SUPERHUMANS/Reuters
|Eddy Scott was struck by a Russian drone
He told GB News: "That morning, we evacuated three people and a dog. We took them out, and then in the afternoon, we went back in to evacuate two more people.
"We picked them up, and then on our way out of the city, just as we were leaving, we were targeted and hit by a Russian First Person View [FPV] drone.
"The charge went through the van's armor, and then through my shoulder, before dissipated into my leg and and destroying it. Essentially, I was incredibly lucky."
Speaking about how he felt at the moment of impact, Scott said: "My first thought was, there's going to be a second drone.
"My team lead, the guy that saved my life, he had been hit by two drones the previous month, and so we were very aware that drones often hunt in pairs."
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About three minutes after this attack, a pickup truck with a drone jammer arrived at the scene and took Scott to a trauma suite, where his left arm was traumatically amputated.
Despite the best effort of surgeons, the decision was taken to amputate his left leg before he was transferred to Dnipro before moving on for the majority of his medical recovery in Kyiv.
"I was just very focused on not dying, or the fact that I was dying, and in between that I was doing what I could to help my team help me", Scott continued.
"Absolutely I shouldn't have made it. I had five litres of blood put in me in in the trauma hospital. My arm was was gone. My leg was just a complete mess.
"The fact that I was evacuated so fast I got into a very good trauma suite within an hour. If the evacuation time had been longer, if we'd had to hang around, there is a very good chance I wouldn't have made it."
Despite the trauma of the attack, Scott remained positive about his recovery and has taken the decision to remain in Ukraine and keep up his volunteering work.
He told GB News: "The mental support and being surrounded by people who understand my situation, who understand the injuries, and people who have gone through similar injuries, has been so inspiring for me."
Scott is now working with Superhumans, a Ukrainian charity providing care for war victims, backed by Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk and Sir Richard Branson.
The charity said they have already delivered more than 1,600 prosthetics, performed over 1,300 surgeries, and supported 2,600 patients through physical and psychological rehabilitation in the last two years.
REUTERS
|Smoke is seen in Lviv after a Russian drone and missile strike
Speaking about his work with Superhumans, Scott said: "We all read the numbers, we see the news reports.
"But it's difficult to humanize the situation. If you haven't experienced the war itself, and you haven't met us.
"So being able to tell our stories, and being able to get Ukraine back into the conversation, because as things change around the world, Ukraine sometimes plays second fiddle.
"I wanted to show what we've gone through and shows the levels of sacrifice that Ukrainians are making in order to defend our home."