The heroism of a boy from Odessa during the Harry Potter Castle massacre

Even though he was injured, he started treating the other wounded, thanks to the tactical medicine course he had taken a day earlier.

On April 29, a Russian missile armed with a shrapnel warhead struck on the Odessa seafront near the building housing the private Humanitarian University, good-naturedly called Harry Potter's Castle by Odessans. The shrapnel designed to kill soldiers in the open field hit many passers-by in the nearby park. Result: 5 dead and 32 injured, of which 8 in serious condition.

Among the injured waiting for help, a boy from Odessa, Igor Nakhaba, provided essential first aid to the victims. Despite the shrapnel wound on his upper thigh, Igor used techniques to stop bleeding on people injured by cluster bullets, thanks to first aid training provided by PULSE, the charity organization specialising in life-saving medical training, which he had just completed the day before the shelling.

“On Sunday, April 28, our instructors held a bleeding control course in Odessa and Igor was in the group. In less than 24 hours, his capabilities were put to the test when a Russian ballistic missile hit civilians walking by the sea in the afternoon,” explained Fedir Serdiuk, co-founder of PULSE.

Some witnesses said that rescuers arrived after over half an hour, a time in which even lightly injured people can die of bleeding.

“This is a vivid example of the importance of learning and teaching first aid,” Serdiuk added, underlining the crucial need for such skills in today's hostile environment. His charity organization is the largest tactical medicine training centre in Ukraine. His courses are open to both soldiers and civilians. PULSE has the NAEMT certification recognised by the military medicine of the NATO armies.

Following the missile attack, Ukrainian military spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk of the Southern Command of Ukrainian Armed Forces said the shrapnel-laden missile fired by Russian forces at Odessa was aimed at maximizing the number of civilian casualties.

Written by Ugo Poletti on contents offered by PULSE, Ukrainian charity organization, based in Odessa, authorized training centre focused on tactical medicine.

https://www.pulse.charity/en