“I was thinking not to die. I love life very much and I try to live it.” Sargis says in the framework of the “Second Artsakh War։ Those Who live and help to live” series of Iravaban.net.
Sargis Harutyunyan is a participant in the 44-day Artsakh war. He lost his legs as a result of the war.
“I was serving in Martakert. I was a servant for 1.5 years when the war began. On 27 September, I was in the military unit; I was on duty of the company. Around 7:15 in the morning, strange noises began. I had already managed to wake up the boys, the battalion was awake. There was no panic when the enemy began shelling the military unit. Not far from the village of Chartar, we were in the area called Ulyan Sar. I participated in combat operations until 28 October. It was at dawn that they shelled us. We received an order to enter the hideout. When the shelling stopped, I went out, I felt that a shell was coming; I tried to enter the hideout again. As soon as I lay down, the projectile fell on me and I exploded, my legs were cut off on the spot. I stayed underground. My friends helped, they pulled me out from under the ground. My consciousness was in place. I was injected in Martuni hospital, I just fell asleep,” Sargis said.
According to him, he did not realize the seriousness of the moment, he did not think about what should happen in the future, his only thought was not to die.
“The platoon commander and those who were with me did everything to get me to the hospital. Very few managed to reach the hospital. I changed three cars to get to the hospital. The first car overturned, we did not reach the hospital. The second car broke down, we reached the hospital in the third car,” Sargis recalls.
He says that he dreamed of getting prosthetics while sitting in a wheelchair for three years.
“I realized that the only way to walk is prosthetics. After getting prosthetics, I worked day and night to be able to walk. At first I walked with a walker, and then with two canes, now I can walk without anything,” he said.
Sargis started playing sports. He has already achieved great success in arm wrestling. He became the European champion by defeating the Turkish rival. He took part in the World Championship in Antalya and took 3rd place. In May 2023, he participated in the European Championship and became the champion, again defeating his Turkish rival. In August, he again participated in the World Championship and became the world champion. Now Sargis’ dream is to become the Olympic champion.
Details in the video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
