Teen in Oscar-Winning Documentary Recovers Thanks to Shriners Children's

Orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons and specialists have treated Ivan since August 2022 for rehabilitation and a lingering bone infection.

The 17-year-old has undergone more than 10 surgeries and hundreds of hours of therapy. He and his mother found it too difficult to speak about their experience until now.

Ivan and his family moved to a large city in Ukraine six months before a war began. The 6’1” physically-fit teenager hoped to become a professional arm wrestler and weight lifter. That changed when he barely survived a March 2022 airstrike. Ivan’s legs and left arm were trapped for hours before he was freed. He had severe injuries including broken bones. Associated Press journalists captured the incident and included it in their Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol.

The film’s director and narrator said he did not know if Ivan survived, but they have since been in touch. Maiia, Ivan’s mother, said the film’s director texted the family, "He is extremely happy we all survived. He said he would be thinking about us at the Oscars." During his moving acceptance speech, the director said this was a movie they never wanted to make, lamenting a conflict that has caused so much damage. Maiia said, through translation from Ukrainian, "We didn’t want to be in that movie either.”

Ivan underwent an operation in the occupied part of Ukraine, in the city of Mariupol, and was hospitalized until the hospital ran out of medicine. Ivan and his parents drove 200 miles, passed many checkpoints and reached the safer city of Dnipro, where he underwent “a large number of operations.”