"I had minutes to live": Dorset aid worker shares story after losing limbs in Ukraine
A Dorset aid worker injured in Ukraine warns us that there's a soaring demand for prosthetics in the country
A Dorset aid worker who lost an arm and a leg in a Russian drone strike in Ukraine has spoken out about the growing number of civilians and soldiers in desperate need of prosthetic limbs as the war grinds into its third year.
Eddy Scott, 28, was evacuating civilians from the embattled town of Pokrovsk when his vehicle was targeted by a Russian FPV (first-person view) drone. The blast tore off his arm just below the shoulder and shredded his leg.
“I had minutes to live,” Eddy said. “I was incredibly lucky. My team lead, who is Ukrainian, came around my side of the vehicle and undoubtedly saved my life.”
Now fitted with a prosthetic leg supplied by the Ukrainian medical charity Superhumans, Scott has remained in the country and taken on a new role supporting others suffering the lasting physical and psychological scars of war.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, at least 80,000 Ukrainians are estimated to have lost limbs - many to landmines, which now litter 40% of Ukraine’s territory, an area twice the size of Austria.
Landmines alone account for around 40,000 amputations, while tens of thousands more have suffered severe burns, facial trauma or hearing loss.
Superhumans has delivered more than 1,600 prosthetics, performed over 1,300 surgeries, and supported 2,600 patients through intensive rehabilitation since 2022.
Eddy told us conditions in Ukraine have gotten worse: “There’s been a dramatic increase in attacks on Kyiv and other major cities.
“When I first arrived, we were seeing maybe 100 drones a night, now there are five to seven hundred. Roads we used to consider safe have become graveyards for vehicles.”
Though no longer able to work on the frontlines, Eddy said his resolve to help hasn’t faded. “It was about seeing something bigger than me and needing to help. That hasn’t changed, even if my role has.”
As Ukraine’s war-wounded population grows, Eddy and others warn that the country faces a long-term public health emergency - one measured not only in lives lost, but in limbs, livelihoods and lasting trauma.