Yana Stepanenko raises over USD 15,000 for military at Boston marathon

Lviv City Council reports this, according to Espreso TV. 

As it became known, 13-year-old Ukrainian Yana Stepanenko managed to raise UAH 615,000 for a running prosthesis for the severely wounded defender Oleksandr Ryasnyi. The girl ran a 5-kilometer distance on prosthetics at one of the most prestigious world marathons in Boston for this purpose.

Unbreakable Yana runs for the sake of the defender

The charitable project Unbroken Yana Runs for the Defender on the dobro.ua platform was supported by 754 donors with contributions in various amounts. These included both Ukrainians and foreigners who were inspired by the courage of the young Ukrainian.

At the Unbroken Center, they stated that this news became the best birthday present for the girl - after all, yesterday she turned 13 years old.

Andriy Kropyvnytskyi is a 37-year-old veteran and patient of the Unbreakable Center. When the full-scale invasion began, he immediately came home from abroad and joined the army. He lost his right leg in the Donetsk region. Doctors fought for a long time to save the limb, but it had to be amputated. The defender is currently recovering in Lviv.

Yana Stepanenko’s story

In May 2022, Natalia and her 11-year-old twins, Yana and Yaroslav, came under rocket fire from racists at the train station in Kramatorsk. The mother lost one limb, the daughter both. 

The Stepanenko family spent several months receiving treatment in Lviv, preparing for prosthetics, before traveling to the United States. For a year, they lived in the Californian city of San Diego. There, Natalia and Yana underwent rehabilitation and prosthetics at an American clinic.

• The American foundation One World Strong, which helps veterans and civilians affected by terrorist attacks and military operations, invited Yana to participate in the marathon.

• Preparing for the marathon, the girl trained four times a week: twice at the National Rehabilitation Center "Unbreakable" with a physical therapist, and twice more at the bike track and stadium with professional coaches from the PROBIG running club.