Hi my name is Wendy and I am fundraising to send Ethan’s Mom to Ukraine

This is Ethan Custoza’s story….please be aware the photos used are graphic and some may find them disturbing to view

Early in the spring of 2025, Ethan was watching a video online of the drone strikes taking place by Russia in Ukraine. These attacks are horrendous and never ending. While watching one of these videos, it told a story of a 3 year old Tymofii and his grandmother were walking home from a playground at the time of the explosion. His mother, who was at home, ran outside immediately after the strike. The story of this little boy and the loss of life at such a young age was what made Ethan‘s decision easy to go to Ukraine and protect these children and their families and their country. Tymofii was the youngest of nine children killed in this specific attack, which claimed a total of 18 civilian lives. The other children ranged in age from 7 to 17.

Ethan truly believes that this was a sole purpose in life and this is why he was born to go to protect the people in Ukraine

Ethan was a young healthy 23-year-old who lives with his grandparents, taking care of them and helping them with chores around the house and yard. Ethan and his grandparents are very close. Ethan worked odd jobs here and there but, like a lot of young men did not really know what direction he wanted to take. After watching that life-changing video, Ethan decided he needed to help and the only way he knew how to do that was to travel to the Ukraine and then enlist in the Ukrainian military.

One can only imagine a Mothers anguish however & after talking for a long time to his parents, who finally realized how serious Ethan was about doing this for the Ukrainian people, they were supportive and helped him prepare as best they could for this very dangerous mission. Ethan left on May 1st and headed to Rzeszow, Poland.

Upon arrival, Ethan was met at the border by military personnel who proceeded to take him to Ukraine for his military training. His training lasted for eight weeks and on July 7, Ethan was issued his regiment card and then he joined up with the assault team of Charlie Company for 2nd International Legion for the Defence of Ukraine.

The next portion of this letter is being recited from Alex’ text to Amanda, his mother.

Greetings! Here is Alex….Nov. 10, 2025…..

I just spoke to Ethan, he’s in a good mood. He misses you very much.

Ethan was wounded on October 5. It was during an assault operation as part of the assault team of Charlie Company of our 2nd International Legion for the defence of Ukraine. Geographically, this is the Kharkiv region, practically on the border with Mordor.

It’s hard to say exactly what happened. But soldiers who were nearby say it was most likely a mortar shell. The nature of the damage suggest this too.

A mortar shell exploded near Ethan on the left side. The entire left side of his body received multiple wounds from shrapnel. But the most serious injuries were an open fracture of the right tibia with massive bleeding, and a pneumothorax of the left lung. All of this was complicated by significant blood loss, hemorrhagic, shock and contusion, but your boy was very strong, and his brothers-in-arms were nearby. He was immediately given the necessary first aid, and the blood loss was stopped. He was then immediately evacuated to a shelter, where he received extensive medical care from our combat medic. We then began the operation to evacuate Ethan to the rear to a stabilization point, and then to the hospital, to put it briefly, evacuating the wounded is a very difficult task. The entire sky is swarming with enemy drones and artillery, trying to hit vehicles and personnel. It’s a dangerous task, one we spent many hours solving. In fact, it’s precisely this waiting that is the most dangerous for the health in the life of the wounded. Despite the severity of our Ethan’s injuries and the time lost, we managed to successfully and without additional losses complete the evacuation to the battalion stabilization point and then onto the hospital in Kharkov.

…..Are you there? How are you feeling? Should I continue? Amanda reassured him that she was there but very emotional. She was happy to have more clarification on what happened to Ethan and encouraged Alex to continue. So he proceeded…..

Then, at the military hospital, a series of surgeries began. But even at our stabilization station, we discovered two small fragments of shrapnel in his pericardium, very close to his heart. This was both a concern and a sign of his good fortune. the hospital did everything they could to save his leg, treat his lung problems, the shrapnel in his stomach, and anywhere else they could get it out of his body. In fact, some fragments will remain with him for the rest of his long happy life they cannot be removed, so as not to cause further harm to the body during the operation itself. I’ll talk to Ethan’s new doctor again tomorrow, but he told me that those two fragments near his heart definitely don’t pose any throughout to his health and there’s no need for a complicated or dangerous surgery to remove them. And that’s the really good news! What followed was a long journey through many large and small operations. First, in a military hospital near Kharkiv, then to Kyiv, and now to Lviv. Now he’s 1000 miles from the front and practically safe there.

Now he’s struggling to get his right leg to function properly. The bones are healing, but some muscles are missing. Doctors are planning a muscle transplant from his left leg to his right this is a remarkable scientific achievement. He’s in a good mood and feeling good right now. He wants to get up on crutches and use a wheelchair, but he’s still weak and it’ll take time. He watches movies and play games on his phone. Of course he misses you very much and he wants to go home. I’m trying to explain to him that this kind of treatment can’t be quick, especially since Ukraine won’t let him go until he’s completely healthy. After this good hospital, a state of the art rehabilitation centre awaits him, also in Lviv. Amanda, assured Alex that we are all missing him as well and know that his recovery will take time. She was thinking about making her way there at some point to visit and spend time with him. So, this is his story in a nutshell.

Alex explained that he is not exactly a doctor, his job is to ensure the wounded survive until evacuation. But from my experience and the current combat situation he is very lucky to have survived, now everything depends on his young body. the best doctors are working with him so he can walk and run again and live a long life. But there’s still a risk we’re hoping and believing in success.

Since this dreadful attack and these terrible injuries to Ethan, he has undergone multiple surgeries to remove the shrapnel in his body, fix his collapsed lung with the exception of two pieces of shrapnel embedded into the heart muscle and in his rib cage that will remain with him forever. He has had multiple surgeries on his leg and that wound remains open. He had one unsuccessful transplant of his calf muscle to his shin. They have had to remove that as it became severely infected, and he is awaiting another surgery in the next day or two. Ethan has a long road ahead of him and it is looking like he will not come home for at least one year. He is suffering from terrible PTSD, something no one should ever have to go through and the psychological care that this young man is going to need is going to take a long time for him to recover.

The morning of November 26, 2025, Ethan underwent another leg surgery and the doctors had no choice but to cut 4cm off the bone, that was dying. His bones are infected badly. His options are not good. A team from Great Britain and Ukraine have proposed two options for Ethan option number one is to go ahead with reconstructive surgery, micro surgery and taking fat skin, muscle and bone from his body to help save the leg or option number two amputation below the knee. Ethan and his doctor have decided to go ahead and try the reconstructive surgery to try to save his leg. Ethan had the first of more surgeries to come and we are now waiting to see if his body will réject it or they can proceed to the next surgery.

We are hoping to raise enough money to send Amanda and son Kayne to Lviv to be with Ethan as he continues to go through these many surgeries. Amanda wants to spend a month with him as he continues in recovery. Wont you please help us get her there?