Ukrainian serviceman saves life of seriously wounded man in Venice during his vacation
Ukrainian soldier Yanis Tereshchenko, 32, saved the life of a seriously injured young man who was at risk of dying without emergency assistance while on holiday in Venice.
As reported by Corrierre del Veneto, Tereshchenko was on his way to his hotel in the Rialto district when, after a fierce fight between two North African young men, he noticed a bleeding man. He had just been stabbed.
"I saw a deep wound on his thigh and pulled out a tourniquet to stop the blood. He lost consciousness and was bleeding. I tried to bring him back to life," Tereshchenko said.
Tereshchenko tried to keep him conscious until the ambulance arrived, not being sure whether he would survive due to the large blood loss.
"I don't know if he would have survived. People were confused, and no one intervened and did not know what to do. Sadly, I saw everything during the war, so I had no doubt about [the need to] intervene," Tereshchenko said.
Corrierre del Veneto writes that since Tereshchenko left his teaching job and joined the Ukrainian army, he always carries a first aid kit with him.
"I know it's a big one, and my family always tells me to leave it at home, that I don't need it, but today for the first time in three years it came in handy. Fortunately, I had it with me and was passing by at the time," said Tereshchenko.
He also said that he joined the 3rd Assault Brigade at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion and came to Italy on holiday.
"We have a few days of leave, and because we love Italy, we always come to your country whenever we have the opportunity, this time to Venice," Tereshchenko said.
It is noteworthy that the news of Tereshchenko's action quickly spread in the media, and at first, it was mistakenly reported that the guy was rescued by a "Russian tourist". The mistake was later corrected. Tereshchenko said in a post on X (Twitter) that the inaccuracy was made by locals who called him a "turista russo".
In another post on X, Tereshchenko briefly described the events: "20 minutes in Venice. The boy was lucky that I was near the first aid kit and tourniquets; by the time the ambulance arrived, he would have f**king bled to death."
In autumn, the Italian authorities of Venice maintained and expanded the mechanism of paid entry to the city for nonresidents, which was introduced on an experimental basis in 2024.