Epress.am News from Armenia
Resident of Margahovit village of the Armenian Lori province Grigor Yesayan, 32, admits that at this point the causes of his disability acquired in the army are unimportant to him; doctors have assured the wheelchair-bound man he would be able to walk again after undergoing a treatment abroad, and he is currently trying to find sources for the necessary funds. Armenian Ministry of Defense, Yesayan (pictured) told Epress.am, has promised to cover the travel costs; however, the ex-soldier claims he would be able to find money for the tickets himself easily enough: the problem is the rather expansive treatment.
Overall, Yesayan has been happy with the Defense Ministry's attitude: they have been paying for his treatment for 14 years, have periodically sent him to Yerevan for a massage therapy and restorative procedures. Yesayan's condition has been gradually improving: he used to be completely paralyzed, but now he is able to move his arms and legs, he can write and read. Nevertheless, according to law, the Defense Ministry is not obliged to pay for his treatment abroad since the disability has been acquired in the military unit and not on the frontline.
About two months after being drafted into military service in the fall of 2001, as stated by the ex-soldier, he fell ill at the Martuni-2 military unit of the Nagorno-Karabakh Defense Army: “My legs hurt below the knees. I'd go the to the medical center, and the doctor would say 'there is nothing serious.' Because of his 'nothing serious' I've ended up [on a wheelchair].”
Both, Grigor and his mother, Karine Yesayan, find the incident rather mysterious: they didn't even know why the young man fell into a coma shortly after being drafted. They say they've heard several versions: food poisoning, water contamination, as well as cold exposure.
Grigor Yesayan is not the only one among the Martuni-2 recruits of 2001 who's had health problems; there have even been cases of death. The question of whether those responsible have been punished is also secondary to the disabled ex-soldier.
“While I was hospitalized they'd say the officers had been jailed. I was in an intensive care unit. I then went to the neurology unit and saw officer Nalbandyan there. Some guy told me [Nalbandyan] wanted to [fake illness to escape prison term]. What is it to me if [officers] are jailed. They might serve 2 years and be released. My life, however, has been ruined,” Yesayan stressed.
Despite having double vision, the man said he is able to read and to write, is a member of the Online Center of Lori Province Journalists; he also constructs plaster sculptures. Yesayan's youngest brother lives and works in Russia to be able to provide some financial assistance to the family.
In Margahovit, the temperature is rather cold even in early September. Karine Yesayan says “our village is the Armenian Siberia.” The wood-ward, she adds, permits them to go to the forest and collect sawdust to be able to get some heat for Grigor in the winter.
“There was a boy [in Martuni-2] from Maralik. They said he’d live. He and Grigor fell sick at the same time, but he was in a better condition. However, the boy died in the intensive care unit of Erebuni medical center [in Yerevan]. Arkady Ghazaryan, from Vahagni village, was transported from Stepanakert along with Grigor. One of his lungs was removed, he's still undergoing treatment,” the mother told.
Arkady Ghazaryan was the first recruit in the military unit to fall sick. In a phone conversation with an Epress.am reporter the ex-soldier said he was unaware of what had happened after he was transferred. Ghazaryan, a former weightlifter, served for only 25 days.
According to him, a lot of stories have been made up about the conscripts who fell sick that year: they, specifically, have been accused of eating unknown greens. Ghazaryan, however, claims the real reason the young men fell ill was having to jog and stand in line without warm winter clothing in the cold weather, as well as the doctors' negligence towards, for example, him and his complaints of pneumonia and fever.
Ghazaryan's mother, Karine Kharatyan, says they found out about their son's illness accidentally: “Arkady was drafted on December 7. On December 29 my brother-in-law went to see him; it turned out, he was forced to run with a 40-degree temperature. My sister and I also [went to the military unit]. They told us it was pointless to see him, ‘Arkady is no more.’ I felt sick; my sister went to see my son. There was a doctor, Armen Kocharyan, he said he’d do anything to save [Arkady]. He was transported to the intensive care unit of Erebuni hospital. Grigor was also there; he could not remember who he was, so we found his family, and soon after his mother and uncle came to him.”
Arkady Ghazaryan receives a monthly disability benefit of AMD 45 000 (less than $100), which, as stated by the ex-soldier, is just enough to pay for medication. Ghazaryan is also looking for funds to continue treatment abroad, and like Grigor Yesayan, has not sought punishment for those guilty either.
“The military police visited me at the hospital, they told me to submit a complaint. I didn't. Am I the one to tell you about your dirty laundry? I only want to get back on my feet,” Ghazaryan concluded.