“Five doctors approached; four were afraid to operate on me, saying it was pointless; only my 'Goddess' was not afraid”: A War Veteran

“Be grateful for what you have, and you will have more.” These words guide Haik Hayrapetyan, a participant in the 44-day war in Artsakh and a conscript soldier, who fought in various directions during the war, first in the Jraqan region, then in Hadrut and Varanda. On November 8, Haik sustained a severe head injury from a drone strike in Martuni.

According to Galatv.am, the soldier was initially transferred to Stepanakert and later to Yerevan... to this day Haik's struggle continues, but as he himself states, the hardest part has already passed. The chances of survival were slim, but Haik's will to live was even greater.

“I remember being in the medical point during the war, lying down with a fever. My friend came for me, and we went to the basement together while we waited for the call for combat alert. We received our weapons and went to the posts... in the first couple of days of the war, we didn’t really understand where we were, peeking through our fingers. Then we realized where we were and what was happening; our friends were dying beside us, and we couldn’t change anything. That’s when we truly understood the seriousness of the moment. We encouraged each other that everything would be fine. We were fighting, and the hope of living motivated us because it was November 7-8, only a few days into the war, and we were still alive. At that point, you think not only about surviving but also about reaching out to your parents.

On November 8, I was wounded in the head… they took our battalion and we held the front so they wouldn’t advance, or else they would take the city too. After I was wounded, I don’t remember anything; my friends are the ones who tell me what happened. On November 10, when I was transferred from Artsakh to Yerevan, five doctors approached me right away, and four of them were afraid to operate, saying it was pointless. Only Anna Leonovna, my 'Goddess' (that’s what I call her), wasn’t afraid; she told me before the operation that the chance of survival was zero, but we would do it, and I should be prepared for the worst. She said it and did it; the operation lasted nine hours, and during those nine hours, a team worked with her that has now become dear and good friends of mine.

I couldn’t walk at all; they helped me to my feet in a matter of months. Now I walk with a crutch, and when I was discharged in March, my walking had improved quite a bit; I know it will get better, and I will fight until the end. I never stop. I focus on the best, trying to live in the present, not in the future. I hope to continue my education in my beloved profession and become an actor. There’s a saying: ‘Yesterday was history, tomorrow a mystery, and today is a gift.’ I will live for today,” Haik Hayrapetyan said in an interview with GALA.

Haik also plays the guitar and says, “But I’m not that good; I play what I want and what sounds pleasant to my ears,” reveals the war veteran. The 44-day war veteran doesn’t talk much about the war, saying, “I want to forget everything related to the war.”

Haik Hayrapetyan was born on August 3, 2000, in the town of Ijevan in the Tavush Province. He studies at the Faculty of Law at Eurasia International University, but he says he won’t continue in the field of law; he knows for sure he wants to become an actor.