A year after a Russian missile took her leg, a young Ukrainian gymnast's spirit endures

KYIV, Ukraine -- While the Russians continue their almost nightly attacks in the Odesa region of southern Ukraine, 7-year-old Sasha Paskal from neighboring Chornomorsk wakes up in the morning, puts on her leg prosthesis and goes to a gymnastic class.

She and her mom, Maria Paskal, try not to think about new waves of attacks, as one that happened last May changed their lives forever

If you met Sasha on a street, you would first pay attention to her beauty and vividness. On a second glance you would notice that this small girl has a prosthesis instead of her left leg. She also has a scars over her left hand. Her hair conceals others.

"We don't hide them, let people see," Maria said.

The girl got all of this after a Russian missile attack over Zatoka, a town in the Odesa region, on May 16, 2022. She went to spend a holiday with her family. Just after they arrived, air raid sirens went off, and soon a Russian missile struck the facility with the family.

"I can't remember how it happened, I didn't hear anything -- neither missile, nor explosion. It just happened out of nothing, I just felt how it happened," Maria said. The explosion and blast threw Sasha away from mother. She was stuck under the rubble.

"Sasha was alive, but unconscious," Maria said. They both consider it a miracle that they survived under the rubble. Sasha was crushed by a concrete slab, which severely damaged her leg, broke her hand and a few ribs, and caused wounds on her head and body.

Sasha spent around two weeks in intensive care in an induced coma, while doctors tried to do their best. They managed to save the hand, but the leg was too damaged, there was no blood circulation.

"They prepared us for the possibility of amputation, and at the very end they had to do it," Maria said.

What followed was a very hard time for Sasha, as she suffered from pain, had to learn once again such basic things as how to sit and how to walk and, the most important, had to accept these new circumstances -- a life without a leg. But her family, her strong spirit, purposefulness and passion for gymnastics helped the girl to go through, even on a prosthesis.

Sasha now uses her third prosthesis in a little bit more that a year. The family has documented her recovery on social media.

"She grows, and we have to change prosthesis at least once a year, maybe more often. That costs at least $6,000, and it's a regular one, as a sports one would cost much more," Maria said.

A previous one the girl got for free in Austria, where she was at rehabilitation last year. The current one she got with the help of a group of women from Odesa council's financial department -- they just cared about Sasha so much that they decided to collect their salaries and to launch a fundraising to help her.

Just a year after the attack and a few months of training with other girls and her favorite coach, Sasha went to her first post-trauma gymnastics competition -- and won it. When you watch a video from that performance, you hardly manage to see the girl has an artificial leg -- just a brilliant and professional execution of an act. A month later Sasha won another competition.

"Now we can't wait for another one, that will happen next October, hopefully," Maria said. "I took Sasha to her first training when she was 4 years old as she was small and flexible. And this is a very beautiful sport for a girl."

"I love gymnastics because it's beautiful and feminine," Sasha said immediately. She likes to do different elements -- splits, jumps, racks, bridges, but standing on the chest is her favorite one.

Things are a bit different now, Maria said. Even though Sasha is talented and hard-working, she can`t perform some elements. For now, as she belongs to a young group, it's all fine, she competes with other girls of her age. "When she grows up, I don't know how judges will evaluate her performances, so we will have to figure something out," Maria said.

For this year, Sasha has already become an inspiration for many Ukrainians, meeting the first Lady Olena Zelenska, becoming a photoshoot star and meeting perhaps the most famous Ukrainian dog -- Patron, an explosive-sniffing dog awarded a medal for his work.

"We try to do everything Sasha could live as normal as possible, we make her busy with gymnastics, swimming and other activities, so she didn`t even have time to think about bad things," Maria said.

There is a thing that could upset some people, just not Sasha. "There was a funny story at a training, when I was doing an element, and my prosthesis just fell apart and flew away," she said, laughing. Maria added that it happened a few times, so they are just worried it wouldn't happen during a competition.

Sasha also gets tired more often and sooner, and you can see it even while talking to her. All the time she is looking for mom's help and support, leaning to her.

But when it comes to training or competitions, the girl is unstoppable. Gymnastics inspires her, this is her main passion, and she dreams of winning much more serious competitions such as the Olympics and becoming an example for other people.