figure in many ways, he was there. every minute of every day that i was injured. i could not have gotten through it without him, jacques was behind me the times that i fell. out of nowhere hands were there to grab me, lift me up. jacques was there when i cried. told me it would be okay. ben had goals to do a lot go back to work. we had to start withstanding up, walking and getting stronger. first day i got a leg, i took one or two steps on it. loved it. every day was about doing more. just getting better. it feels like a corner has been turned i reached a point that to be honest. at some point was not sure i would make it. days that were more challenges than others, benji would routine let s look at me and say, okay, what do you got, i ll have a
as if we were invading, they didn t believe i was injured. they were poking at ben s wounds, they were that suspect of us. the checkpoints pulled all of his b bandages back, they saw the condition he was in and lit us g we would start over. every checkpoint. the same song and dance. we made it to st train stationed. station. he was in a lot of pain. and never complained. not when we carried him, not any of it. my mind wouldn t stop. i could not turn it off. i couldn t stop thinking. nonstop. and that was just 10 hours of focus.
prime ministers of poland, czech republic and slovenia went by train to meet with president zelenskyy in kyiv. the prime ministers meeting ended 6 hours early. o we were concerned we would miss the train window, the prime minister is not waiting. i was reached out to by one of polish operator who said you are good to get on the train, but i can t guarantee you will make it here, if you do don t leave now, you won t make it. we started packaging up ben, getting him ready to move. for the linkup at the train stationed. station. that is an event in and of itself. only thing he ever talked about was he wanted to know at all-times where his phone was. the phone.
we were then passed on to the americans. t sent me a video, i see the helicopter. lift up. ben s father was evacuated by americans, it wan emotional thing for men to be in the same situation. go. when i knew he was alive, he was in germany, i was sending him voice notes and video. morning mate. rick here. something to keep him entertained. the poor guy is just lying there. been quite a serious acci accident. i m quite an annoying
too painful for him. we make it to the hospital. i linked up with orthopedic surgeon who was running the show for ben. he spoke perfect english, trained in the u.k. benjamin was brought to us from another hospital, he has got amputated his right leg. and there were signs of compartment syndrome on his left leg. there was a great risk of air attack on the hospital. he was in the the operating room, he would go out and patrol the perimeter. almost every night, i had a duty with a weapon, but when the patients were, i did my work. i did surgery. i had reached back out to jennifer griffin and i said, he is stable. but he is in a military target. in an area that is getting bombed right now. and he needs further medical care in the next 24 to 48