After spending the afternoon fishing near his home in Ukraine, nine-year-old Alex Skrynnyk, now a freshman at South, packed up his equipment, put his fishing rod over his shoulder and began his walk

home.

He never thought twice about how he held the fishing rod.

He never thought the fishing rod would get caught in a low-hanging power line.

He never thought the power line would send 2200 volts of electricity through his body.

Nevertheless, Skrynnyk landed himself in a coma for four days. Following the coma, Skrynnyk suffered from extensive burns all over his body and was informed that his right arm needed to be amputated.

In order to receive prime treatment for his injuries, Skrynnyk’s family moved to Boston seeking care from Shriners Hospital for

Children, an international hospital that specializes in rehabilitative care for young burn victims.

Dr. Gennadiy Fuzaylov, who helps children from around the world, spent four months getting Skrynnk here.

“Alex was in devastating condition back in Ukraine and they asked me how I could help this child,” Fuzaylov said.

According to Skrynnyk’s mother, Olga Zabolotina, the move, “changed everything.”

“I left my job and life,” she said. “But it was a question of my life ... and I wanted to give Alex a chance to return to regular life.”

Skrynnyk’s treatment, which consists of surgeries every six months, slowly heals his burns, enabling his muscles to continue their movement and growth.

After the amputation of his arm, Skrynnyk received a prosthetic arm, which clasps around his elbow.

Now, years after the amputation, Skrynnyk can talk about it lightly. “[It’s] fun because it’s like an expensive toy,” he said.

He found some aspects advantageous. "With my prosthetic arm, I am able to know who my real friends are, because I know my real friends will not be scared away by my arm,” he said.

“From my perspective, he seems really comfortable in class and with his

arm,” freshman Francesca sands, who is in Skrynnyk’s linked English and History class, said. “He fits in with everybody; he’s smart, he’s nice and he participates just like everyone else.”

Skrynnyk’s and Sands’ English teacher, Alan Reinstein, agreed that Skrynnyk shows remarkable comfort with his arm.

“The moment he realized people were aware [about his prosthetic arm], he was open about it,” Reinstein said. “This was an open part of who he is that made everyone at ease.”

Reinstein believes that Skrynnyk has learned to help people understand this part of him so that people aren’t afraid of his arm.

He is impressed both with Skrynnyk’s “wonderful disposition” and the optimism he demonstrates, wondering if it stems from Skrynnyk’s history.

“I don’t know if his extraversion is part of who he is or part of who he has learned to become,” Reinstein said.

Fuzaylov agrees. “I love this guy. I really adore him; he has a good heart, he is brave, he is my favorite patient.” Fuzaylov said. “I never see him crying; I never see him complaining; I never see a bad attitude; he is like a soldier.”

Skrynnyk is so comfortable with the prosthetic arm that he uses it as a conversation starter. “People always ask lots of questions [about it],” he said

At the same time, however, Skrynnyk has had difficulty continuing the activities he loved to do before the accident. Though he has been practicing the Japanese martial art Aikido since he was six, his lack of control over his hands makes it harder for him to perform.

After losing physical ability in his right hand, Skrynnyk had to learn how to write with his left, which took about a year and a half, Skrynnyk estimates.

Reinstein, however, said that Skrynnyk has very good penmanship, especially for someone who had to make this change.

"It was really hard and frustrating to switch and write with my left hand," Skrynnyk said. "But I realized that I had no other choice, so I sucked it up and did it."

A new interest in art stemmed from this change.

When he visited Fuzaylov’s house, Skrynnyk saw Fuzaylov’s daughter drawing and asked for some art supplies of his own.

“I was surprised to see him interested in art because he had just lost his arm,” Fuzaylov said.

Yet, Skrynnyk came back to Fuzaylov with a painting that Fuzaylov described as better than his daughter’s work.

After going to the Boston Library to read books about painting, Skrynnyk, with Fuzaylov’s help, received free admission to take classes at the MFA.

“[It was a] way to show his feelings, and [it] serves as a distraction,” Zabolotina said.

Beyond visual arts, Skrynnyk “loves to be on stage,” Reinstein said. “He is comfortable and is also one of the more outgoing students in class.”

Skrynnyk has been able to put his trouble behind him and just be a teenager.

“It is important to treat him as a man in full capacity,” Fuzaylov said.

While he still has medical struggles to overcome, Skrynnyk tries to continue life as a normal teenager.

“There's nothing I notice about him that's different from anybody else at South,” Sands said. “He is just completely normal.”