{"id":775,"date":"2012-07-05T13:04:30","date_gmt":"2012-07-05T13:04:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haysanta.am\/?p=775"},"modified":"2018-07-05T13:06:33","modified_gmt":"2018-07-05T13:06:33","slug":"the-only-thing-i-want-is-to-walk-5-meters-unassisted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haysanta.am\/en\/the-only-thing-i-want-is-to-walk-5-meters-unassisted\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cTHE ONLY THING I WANT IS TO WALK 5 METERS UNASSISTED\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nBy Knar BABAYAN<\/strong>
\nWe met Narek in the village of Tsamtsor, situated 45 km to north from Hadrut region. He was ready to go to the field since his son had some problems with the tractor. Everything would look natural but for Narek\u2019s wheelchair.
\nNarek Avagyan, 57, was born and lives in Tsamtsor. He went to school there, and then he was conscripted into the Soviet Army. After army he went to Martakert and apprenticed to become a machine operator. \u2018Whole my life I have lived here and voluntarily participated in Artsakh liberation. I was tank-man,\u2019 says Narek. At war he got burns and contusion times without number. But most of all he suffers from the absence of his legs.
\n\u2018At first I had only burns. Later a mine exploded near the Azerbaijani school in Hadrut and the splinter injured my right leg. I didn\u2019t pay attention first. I wasn\u2019t thinking it was serious. But in the end I lost both my legs,\u2019 recalls Narek.
\nIt is 8 years since Narek has been trying to get used to his current situation and confesses it was very hard in the beginning. \u2018Can you imagine not being able to sit and stand and not to move at all?\u2019 Today he moves only in a wheelchair. He also drives his old orange \u201cMoskvich\u201d which he has remade and adapted for himself. In spite of his condition, he never sits doing nothing. With great difficulty, yet he continues working and repairing machines.
\n\u2018Can I be any help staying at home? I cannot stand doing nothing. I shall work till my last day, I shall help my children. A family cannot live with bare wages,\u2019 says Narek.
\nNarek lives with his old parents and youngest son who has recently been demobilized. His daughter and elder son are married and live separately. His wife got emotional shock during the war. Narek says they took care of her for 12 years, but couldn\u2019t save her life. Yet, Narek isn\u2019t complaining of all that has happened to him. \u2018One should rely on himself, nobody can help you\u2019 he says. The budget of the Avagyan family is 90 thousand drams ($ 233) per month \u2013 Narek\u2019s and his parents\u2019 pensions. \u2018Since I wasn\u2019t operated on at a military hospital, I don\u2019t get military pension. I have applied for several times, they demanded some documents, but nothing changed. They wanted some baksheesh, but I didn\u2019t have any means then,\u2019 tells Narek.
\nNarek assures that at first glance their income is not too small, but there is no shop in the village, and they have to drive to the regional center, Hadrut, several times a month to buy necessary things.
\nAny change of weather affects Narek, he feels strong spasms in the area of his amputated legs. Such spasms may last an hour or several days, sometimes \u2013 a week. \u2018I\u2019ll hardly have 3 liters of blood in my organism, that\u2019s why I suffer from heat and cold. In such condition the medicine won\u2019t help. I only squeeze tightly my legs, or wind firmly with cotton bandage,\u2019 he says.
\nThe pains become so tense that Narek cannot sleep. He says the pain, in its turn, evokes memories of the war, and there is no escape of them.
\n\u2018The pain goes to my head, and I recall the paths that we passed, the dangers we escaped with guys. I got burnt in the tank so many times\u2026 And what is the life now! To dispel the memories, I go to the balcony to smoke. The day\u2019s coming but I am still with my memories, suffering of them,\u2019 he says.
\nNarek hasn\u2019t seen a doctor for several years now. He says it\u2019s just a waste of time and nerves. His legs won\u2019t be back all the same.
\nHe has heard they can help him only abroad, with their modern prostheses, but he isn\u2019t even dreaming of it. He can never afford it.
\n\u2018I was waiting since the morning for the daughter-in-law of a cousin to help me get to the car. Now I can independently go up and down the stairs, but moving on an uneven ground in a wheelchair is impossible,\u2019 says Narek.
\nNarek is doing the last check-up of his car to make sure it will not to stop on the half-way, for he is driving alone to help his son.
\nTranslated by\u00a0Narine Aghabekyan<\/em><\/p>\n