Epress.am News from Armenia
Sargis Tanashyan, a19-year-old native of Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri, was drafted into the army in July, 2015, but was soon demobilized after acquiring serious health problems; however, his parents say, the medical and social expertise service refuses to give Sargis a disability status, Asparez.am reports.
Speaking to the website’s reporter, the former soldier’s father, Khoren Tanashyan, said that his son showed first signs of various diseases during the first month of being drafted and was for forced to spend his entire service in military hospitals in Yerevan and Stepanakert; “The kid suffers from persistent seizures; he has acquired neurological disorders… When we saw him at the oath taking ceremony, he had hurt his foot with the boot and could hardly stand on it; he’d constantly have high blood pressure.”
The draw showed that the young man was to serve in a Jabrayil military unit; however, a week after the draft, Sargis’ parents were informed that the soldier had been transferred to the hospital. “His health deteriorated within a month; they couldn’t get his temperature down. I sent my healthy son to the army, and he was given back to me a sick boy,” the soldier’s mother, Lala Stepanyan, said.
The military-medical commission of Armenia’s armed forces informed the parents that in October and November of 2015 Sargis was diagnosed with multiple stomach ulcers; after 15 days of inpatient treatment, the soldier was sent back to the military unit.
According to the epicrisis from March 31, 2016, “Sargis Tanashyan was diagnosed with general weakness, headaches, ankle swelling, discoloration of urine, lower back pain. After a comprehensive medical examination, the military-medical commission confirmed that Sargis’ diseases had progressed during military service and found him unfit for service.
Asparez.am writes that the Tanashyans, a family of six, live in difficult social conditions; none of the family members are employed, and their only source of income is pension and the disability benefits given to Lala Stepanyan and the Tanashyans’ eldest son, Hovhannes.
