Олег Онопрієнко That's Life 17 October 2025, 09:00

"Code Became My Therapy." The Story of a Veteran Who Recovered from a Serious Injury Thanks to His Dream of Becoming an IT Professional

Dmitry Tereshonkov survived a mine-explosive injury, ten surgeries, and long weeks in intensive care. The former patrolman and stormtrooper of the "Lyut" brigade found himself in programming, where code became his new form of therapy. dev.ua talked to Dmitry about the path from the trenches to the front end, dealing with the consequences of the injury, and the new meaning he found in working with code.

From policeman to stormtrooper

Before the full-scale invasion, Dmitry served in the police, holding the position of an ordinary patrolman. But when the country needed protection, he decided not to stay away. He went to the front of his own free will, becoming a volunteer in the combined assault brigade "Lyut".

I realized that I had to be there and protect my loved ones with a gun in my hands.

Thanks to his previous service, his adaptation to military life was quick, as he already had basic tactical, medical and weapons skills. In 2023, he served as an assault rifleman in one of the battalions.

A fight that changed my life

On August 19, 2023, Dmitry and his comrades were sent on an assault operation, the purpose of which was to occupy enemy positions in a dense landing. During the advance, the group was constantly under artillery fire. After they occupied the enemy dugout, they managed to wait out the dense shelling for a while, but soon the enemy began trying to recapture the positions.

While trying to gain a foothold and establish new positions, the enemy opened dense mortar fire. It was then that Dmytro received a mine-explosive wound. A fragment pierced his body armor, entered from the back, damaged internal organs, and severed the arteries to his right kidney.

In the first minutes after the injury, when his comrades were providing him with first aid, Dmytro was worried not about the pain, but about the future.

I was most worried that I wouldn't be able to say goodbye to my wife, and also that I had become a burden to my fellow students and was now only making their work more difficult.

Evacuation proved impossible due to dense enemy artillery fire attacking the evacuation transport. Dmytro and another wounded comrade were placed in a dugout until morning, while the platoon continued to fight at night.

In the morning, feeling very bad and barely moving, Dmytro walked five kilometers with debris in his abdomen. Then he was taken away first in a pickup truck, and then transferred to an intensive care unit.

Resuscitation and psychological state

Dmytro spent several days in the hospital unconscious, with doctors giving him a slim chance of survival. In total, he underwent ten surgeries and spent two months in intensive care, battling constant internal bleeding.

The treatment process was extremely difficult, as he had to relearn how to walk due to a long stay in intensive care. Dmytro was able to get back on his feet thanks to the support of his wife and doctors.

However, the biggest problem was his psychological state. After ten years of service, it became clear that he would not be able to return to combat. Dmitry was embarrassed that he could no longer help his comrades, and thousands of thoughts arose in his head about how to live on. Despite this, he treats military service with great respect and also continues to maintain contact with his comrades.

It is a great honor for me to have been part of the Ukrainian defense forces.

IT therapy

The final trigger for a career change was returning home. Even during his recovery, despite the support of his family, thoughts constantly returned to the war and the day he was wounded. Dmytro remembered that he had once dreamed of becoming a programmer and decided to try to realize his dream.

He found Frontend development courses and immersed himself in them. It was this choice that helped him get out of a difficult psychological state.

I found courses and started studying, it dragged on so much that I was completely immersed in my studies and my thoughts were less and less about the war and more about how the frontend development training was going.

Dmytro chose frontend because he liked that the result of his work was visible immediately. He studied courses for a year, and although he believed that his knowledge was sufficient, he understood that IT requires constant improvement.

First steps in the profession and the future

Currently, Dmytro does not have a permanent job at the company, but he is actively working as a freelancer. His experience includes layout design, creating a full-stack application for a furniture company, as well as participating in team volunteer projects.

In his opinion, the status of a veteran and a junior does not cause bias among employers, especially in freelance work.

It's just a business. There's a customer and there's you, who solves problems and builds a web application. The most important thing is skills.

Dmytro said that the transition to IT was completely justified, although it brought an unexpected challenge for him - the need for good English at a level higher than just reading documentation. He is currently working on improving his language skills.

Dmytro also shared that the skills he acquired during the war: discipline, endurance, and the ability to work in a team, became key to success in IT. Discipline allows him to constantly develop, and endurance allows him to solve complex problems.

In the future, Dmytro plans to combine freelancing and trying to join a large company. The veteran developer advises other military personnel who are looking for their purpose after the army to try their hand at the IT field.

I would highly recommend trying IT as rehabilitation, never give up, because what veterans have gone through only hardens the spirit and a veteran can do anything, the main thing is to have the desire and set a goal. Don't run away from the past, make it your strength.

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