Doctors Save Fr. Andriy Boyko After He Suffers 70% Body Burns
Fr. Andriy Boyko, 33, a priest of the Buchach Eparchy who suffered severe burns on 70% of his body due to a boiler explosion, has been saved by doctors at St. Luke’s Hospital in Lviv.
The online publication Lvivsky Portal reports that, according to doctors, survival in such cases is extremely rare, but they managed to achieve the impossible.
On January 1, while at home in the village of Melnytsia-Podilska, Fr. Andriy sustained life-threatening burns when a solid fuel boiler exploded.
“An ambulance transported him to the nearest hospital, where he was placed in a medically induced coma and put on a ventilator. The next day, he was transferred to St. Luke’s Hospital in Lviv, which has the largest burn unit in western Ukraine.
The priest was in an extremely critical condition, with burns covering 70% of his body—half of them deep. His respiratory tract, face, torso, and limbs were severely affected. To remove necrotic tissue, doctors performed immediate surgery, followed by additional procedures every two days, including excision of necrosis and skin grafting with xeno-skin. He also required multiple blood transfusions.
Fr. Andriy spent nearly a month in intensive care. Anesthesiologists and combustiologists fought to bring him back from the brink of death.
“It was a matter of life and death. Such cases are extremely complex, requiring a large medical team working around the clock. Statistically, patients with such severe burns rarely survive. But, through our collective efforts, we managed to save him,” said Ivan Ryk, head of the Thermal Trauma and Plastic Surgery Department at St. Luke’s Hospital.
A physical therapist began working with Fr. Andriy while he was still in intensive care, performing exercises to preserve muscle mass and prevent respiratory complications.
Today, he has been moved to a standard ward, where he is breathing, speaking, sitting, and eating on his own. Thanks to regular rehabilitation, he has regained full range of motion in his lower limbs, though his upper limbs still require further recovery.
The priest expressed his gratitude, saying: “From now on, all the doctors, medical staff, and rehabilitation team will forever remain in my heart. I will be grateful to God for this for the rest of my life.”
The UGCC Department for Information
