“They took me shrapnel from the heart”: the magnets with which lives are saved in the war in Ukraine

Photo foot, The magnetic extractor that extracted the shrapnel from the heart of Serhiy.

- Author, Anastasiya Gribanova
- Author's title, BBC Ukrainian Service in Kyiv
- Author, Scarlett Barter
- Author's title, BBC World Service
4 hours

Serhiy Melnyk takes out a small rusty fragment, carefully wrapped in paper.

“My kidney touched me, my lung and heart pierced,” says the Ukrainian military in a low voice while lifting it.

Dry blood are still seen in the shrapnel of a Russian drone that lodged in his heart while fighting in East Ukraine.

“At first I didn't even realize what I was. I thought I lacked the air under the bulletproof vest,” he says. “They had to extract the heart shrapnel.”

With the rise of war with drones in Ukraine, these injuries are increasingly common. Drones usually carry weapons and materials that fragment and cause more complex shrapnel wounds.

According to Ukrainian military doctors, shrapnel wounds currently represent up to 80% of trauma on the battlefield caused by Russian forces.

Without treatment, Serhiy's injury would have been deadly. “The fragment was as sharp as a blade. The doctors said it was a large piece and that I was lucky.”

But what saved him was not only luck, but a new medical technology: a magnetic extractor.

Serhiy Maksymenko sitting in his office. — Photo foot, Serhiy Maksymenko's team extracted the shrapnel from the heart of Serhiy.

A small incision

The cardiovascular surgeon Serhiy Maksymenko shows images of the metal fragment trapped in the heart of Serhiy before being delicately extracted with a fine device with a magnetic tip.

“It is not necessary to make great cuts in the heart,” explains Dr. Maksymenko. “I simply make a small incision and insert the magnet that extracts the shrapnel.”

In just one year, Dr. Maksymenko's team has performed more than 70 successful heart operations with the device, which has transformed medicine into Ukraine.

The development of these extractors arose after doctors in the first line of battle highlighted the urgent need for a safe, fast and minimally invasive method to extract the shrapnel.

Oleh Bykov, who previously worked as a lawyer, promoted this development.

Since 2014, he supports the army as a volunteer. He met doctors in the war and, from their conversations, magnetic extractors were created.

The concept is not new. The magnets were used to extract metal from the wounds from the Crimean War in the 1850s. But the Bykov team modernized the method, by creating flexible models for abdominal surgery, microextractors for delicate work and high strength tools for bones.

Operations have become more precise and less invasive. The magnet can slide down the surface of the wound. Then, surgeons make a small incision and the fragment is extracted.

While holding a thin tool with a pen -shaped tool, Bykov demonstrates its power by raising a deck with the magnetic tip.

Deck raised by a magnet. — Photo foot, The magnets are powerful enough to lift a deck.

His work has been praised by other war doctors, such as David Nott, veteran of conflict zones worldwide.

“In the war, things are ever developing in civil life,” he says.

Fragmentation wounds have increased due to the changing nature of the war, and since they take a long time to detect, NETT considers that this device could be revolutionary.

He states that looking for shrapnel in patients is like “looking for a needle in a haystack”: it is not always successful and delays the treatment of other victims.

Searching for fragments can be dangerous and requires larger incisions that can cause more bleeding. “Therefore, finding them simply using a magnet is ingenious.”

Photo foot, The Ukrainian military Serhiy Melnyk holds a small gray shrapnel fragment hosted in his heart, on a piece of paper.

“My job is to save lives”

What began as a field tool has been deployed throughout Ukraine, with 3,000 units distributed to hospitals and first -line doctors, such as Andriy Alban, who states that he trusts the device.

He often works under enemy fire, in trenches or in improvised outdoor clinics, and sometimes without local anesthesia.

“My job is to save lives: bandage and evacuate soldiers,” he says.

The magnetic extractor has not received an official certification.

The Ministry of Health of Ukraine states that medical devices must fully comply with technical regulations. However, in exceptional cases, such as martial law or emergency state, the use of non -certified devices is allowed to meet the needs of military and security forces.

At the high point of war, there is no time for bureaucratic procedures, explains Oleh Bykov.

“These devices save lives. If someone considers that my actions are a crime, I will assume responsibility. I am even willing to go to jail if the case will come. But then all the doctors who use these devices should also go to jail,” he adds jokingly.

David Nott agrees that certification is not an absolute priority for now and believes that the device could be useful in other war areas such as Gaza.

“In war, it is not really necessary. Only what is important to save lives is done.”

Back in Lviv, Yulia, Serhiy's wife, is grateful that her husband has survived her wound.

“I just want to praise those who invented this extractor,” he says in tears. “Thanks to them, my husband is alive.”

With additional information from Jasmin Dyer and Kevin McGregor.