Mother Helps Wounded Soldier Recover After Crash

In Yekaterinburg, 21-year-old soldier Gavriil Khripunkov is undergoing rehabilitation. We have previously reported on his dramatic story. The young man served in the zone of the special military operation for two years, having signed a contract at age 18 while performing his compulsory military service, and survived under shelling. He was a KAMAZ driver, having trained before the army at a DOSAAF driving school. He transported humanitarian aid, food, and ammunition to the combat zone, but became severely disabled when, in the autumn of 2025, he came home on his first leave to his native city — Kazan.

That day, the serviceman was driving to a date with his fiancée. They had been friends even before he was drafted into the army — and just a few days after the girl turned 18, Gavriil decided to propose to her, but got into an accident.

The young man bought an old Audi in the first days of his leave; it cost only 300,000 rubles (about $3,200 at current rates), and apparently was in poor condition. Gavriil repaired it a bit — but a week after the purchase, the car crashed into a pole and literally fell apart. Most likely, it had been assembled from several parts.

No one saw how the accident happened. There was no trace of alcohol in the injured man«s blood, and Gavriil was wearing his seatbelt. In the glove compartment, they found a festive gift box with an engagement ring that he was going to give to his girlfriend.

Gavriil suffered a severe traumatic brain injury and fell into a coma. Part of his skull was removed. His life was saved, but the young man became a severely bedridden invalid. He did not speak and, according to doctors, was in a vegetative state. Only his mother, who was by his side around the clock, saw that her son«s consciousness and memory had indeed been preserved: he tried to answer with his eyes and reacted to her speech. When he saw that very ring, his expression changed.

Doctors at the Volkova Clinic in Yekaterinburg were ready to take the young man in and try to help him recover. Caring people helped raise money for the first course of rehabilitation — Ulyana wrote her son«s story on her social media and asked for help.

Gavriil was brought to Yekaterinburg at the end of May. At that time, the head of the clinic, neurologist Irina Volkova, was very cautious in her prognosis. As she recalls, at that point the patient was in very serious condition:

— There was nothing but blinking and breathing. To be honest, in the first days we were afraid he might not survive. There can be a mass of complications after such injuries. But of course, we do not voice our most severe fears to the mother, — says Irina Gennadyevna.

The clinic additionally paid for another half-month of rehabilitation for Gavriil as a participant in the special military operation — there is a separate assistance program for them. Because even almost a year after the accident the serviceman has not been discharged from the military, he cannot receive rehabilitation in civilian medical institutions (if there is no contract with the Ministry of Defense).

Despite his severe disability, Gavriil is still listed with his unit. He has only been granted a civilian pension plus payments as a combat veteran (about 24,000 rubles or $255 per month at current rates) and a serviceman«s salary — about 50,000 rubles ($530 at current rates).

Ulyana had to quit her job (she was an administrator at a Pyaterochka store). She is divorced from Gavriil«s father and the father of her two other children. Her youngest daughter is 14. While mother and brother are at rehabilitation, the older sister, 24, looks after her.

— And so after two months we can firmly speak of results, — continues Irina Volkova. — Gavriil, figuratively speaking, «fired off.» He is definitely conscious, interacts with those around him, and is starting to read.

Gavriil«s biggest victory is that he has started to walk. So far with an instructor, supporting himself on one leg, but this is a huge breakthrough for a patient who was bedridden just two months ago.

— Speech is only just beginning to emerge. He is trying to say the word «mama.» Like a child, those are our first words, — says Ulyana. — Recently he wrote his first letter — A. Now he eats on his own, even feeds me, holds out a spoon to me: as if to say, you eat too. He shows care, it is very touching.

We met Ulyana and her son in the clinic ward; before that we had only spoken by phone, when she was just starting to raise funds for his recovery. Gavriil has a very sad look; he covers the scar and dent on his head with his hand. His mother says that as soon as he began to understand everything, he became self-conscious and very worried about the scar.

— When we go outside, he also covers his head. I ask: are you embarrassed? He signals yes. I reassure him that we will fix everything, have surgery, put in a plate, and it will be unnoticeable. I really look forward to him smiling again, — says Ulyana. — My mood is already more upbeat. Although, of course, they helped here, prescribed medications so that I would be more balanced, able to cope, without tears. At first I was afraid to go outside, I spent a very long time in a closed space: hospital, then another, then home. And I was very scared to go out, but the nurse here insisted. We went out, then found company among those staying here — and that was it, the fear passed. We walk in the birch grove across from the clinic.

— Does the girl to whom Gavriil was bringing the ring call?

— She came to the hospital after the accident. We have not been in touch for a long time now. She is very young, only 18, very positive. She has her studies, work, her whole life ahead of her. She cannot be by his side; that is my concern as a mother, — Ulyana answers.

…A psychologist enters the ward, and Gavriil is taken away for sessions. In the office of psychologist Elena Dubovaya there is a huge aquarium with scrambling red-eared turtles. They too are part of the rehabilitation.

Before the session itself, working with special cards, the specialist suggests Gavriil feed the turtles. He tries as best he can to open the lid of the jar with food. A simple action for an ordinary person, one that is indispensable in everyday life, is very difficult for many patients in this office. The psychologist helps open the food, sprinkles it for the turtles, then suggests smelling it. One might ask, why? But this is an important touch of rehabilitation, when all the senses are switched on, awakened, and made to work.

— We restore lost brain functions, activate the brain through all sensory channels: smells, sensations, vision, hearing. After all, we receive information from the outside world, then process it, draw on memory, our experience, so that the brain can make sense of this information, — explains Elena Dubovaya. — Our task is to awaken brain functions, specific subcortical structures responsible for building movements, for switching from one action to another.

In the coming days, mother and son are going home to Kazan. Gavriil is to have plastic surgery (cranioplasty) — a plate will be installed to restore the shape of his skull. Then rehabilitation must continue again, with appeals to foundations and fundraising.

— Perhaps someone will watch a video of our first steps, our achievements, and think: that is all easy. But behind this is enormous work: by the doctors, the family, and the patients themselves, — the mother reflects. — All rehabilitation is through pain. You have to be very strong, strive to live, for there to be results. Gavriil is striving.

Also read the story of Ural soldier Viktor Bautin. A former orphanage graduate, after being wounded he became severely disabled, and he had nowhere to live. Fortunately, benefactors helped Vitya and his brother, who cares for him, and bought them an apartment. The former soldier was also helped back on his feet at the Volkova Clinic.