Shorouk Express
A British aid worker who lost his arm and leg in an attack on Ukraine may have to fund his own prosthetics after he was hit by a drone while completing a civilian evacuation on the frontline.
Edward ‘Eddy’ Scott works for Base UA, which provides shelter and helps evacuate people in combat zones, and was seriously injured when the team’s armoured vehicle was hit in Pokrovsk in January. He had to have his left arm and leg amputated.
Once the 28-year-old from Dorset leaves initial care, he will go to a post-surgical rehabilitation centre, where he will get plastic surgery and have prosthetics fitted.
Base UA said it remains “up in the air” about how these prosthetics would be funded, as the serious nature of Mr Scott’s injuries means he may require extremely high-quality equipment which is not provided as standard.
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Keen to share the reality of the frontline, Mr Scott told The Independent: “The last time I went in [to Pokrovsk], it was getting worse. It gets worse every time we go in, every day there’s more houses destroyed.”
“The Ukrainians are tough, they know what they’re facing. They either want to leave or they don’t want to leave, there’s no in-between.”
He countered beliefs those who refused to leave their homes during evacuations were sympathisers and collaborators with the Russians.
Mr Scott added: “There’s an incredible connection to the land. When we’ve come to people’s houses, we’ve had people kissing their houses goodbye because they’ve lived in that house for their entire life. It’s their property, it’s their whole being.”
He recalled attending an evacuation request for a man, put in by his daughter, where he refused to leave his home on the frontline.
“We had to record a video of him saying, ‘I’m staying,’” he said. “We can’t force people to leave. It has to be their choice.”
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Having “fallen in love with Ukraine”, Mr Scott acknowledged a history of “people telling Ukrainians to leave”.
He added: “So when we come in and say, you have to leave your home. That scares them, that really scares them.”
Mr Scott said within 24 hours of the attack the Weatherman Foundation, which helps those affected by the devastation of war and conflict, had offered to fund his initial recovery.
“I want to advocate for Ukrainians who haven’t been able to receive the same care I have,” he said. “Straight off the bat, I’ve had people helping me. Other people don’t get that.”
The Ukrainian Health Ministry estimated at least 50,000 citizens have lost limbs in nearly three years of war.
More than £100,000 has been raised for his recovery through GoFundMe in the two weeks since the attack. Base UA said this will go towards his onward medical costs, rehabilitation and other associated expenses.
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“I really feel loved and the speed at which it happened,” he said of the fundraiser. “I came out to Ukraine for nothing more than to help people.
“The fact that so many people have seen my story, and decided that I’m someone that they want to support gives me so much positivity, and it’s part of the reason I’m so positive after losing two limbs.
“The fact that I’ve got this incredible network of people who are looking after me and who are making sure that I’m taking care of.”
Mr Scott didn’t have family in Ukraine before he came to help in October 2022. When the war started, he was a sailor who initially thought he would go over for three months.
He said: “I wasn’t sort of aware of what I could do. I just knew that I wanted to do something.”
Since moving to Ukraine, he has found family in friends and he now has a goddaughter. He said he found a “sense of purpose” in “helping other people and giving back”.
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“I want to settle in Ukraine,” he said. “I have a goddaughter here, I have family here, so I will stay here and settle. I plan to buy a house and just live here.
“I’ve been given opportunities now that I didn’t have beforehand, and I’ve been given a future, to be honest.”
US president Donald Trump has said he intends for negotiations to begin to end the war in Ukraine, following a “lengthy and highly productive” phone call with Vladimir Putin last week.
He said he and the Russian president had “agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately”.
The statements caused concern across Europe as Mr Trump suggested it would be unlikely that Kyiv would win back all its territory or join Nato in a deal. European leaders will this week hold an emergency summit to discuss the developments.
Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said his main issue was to “not allow everything to go according to Putin’s plan”.
Mr Zelensky said: “We cannot accept it, as an independent country, any agreements [made] without us.”
Mr Scott added: “The news coming out from America, it just breaks my heart. We’ve done so much to help this country, to save this country, to defend this country, and it’s being thrown away.”
