[Daily Beast] POLTAVA, Ukraine—It was a one-in-a-million hit, said 23-year-old Skyler James Gregg from his hospital bed in Poltava, eastern Ukraine. He remembers how everything suddenly turned black when a Russian drone dropped an explosive at his post in the Kharkiv region on June 1. One French volunteer soldier died immediately in the blast, and flying shrapnel injured another foreign fighter.Skyler was sent to the ground as fragments penetrated his body. One hit his right arm, tearing off a chunk of it. "It was all as black and white suddenly. It ran through my head that I might die. For some reason, it felt peaceful," Skyler told The Daily Beast from his hospital bed.
"I felt heat in my arm. Dogs around were just screaming. It rang in my ears, and I ran to an outdoor bathroom and shut the door. I was trying to hold my arm together."
After taking the hit, Skyler trudged outside with his shirt tied around his lower arm to hold it in place. He then locked eyes with one of his friends who had fallen down a set of stairs and was in a panic.
"He was losing a lot of blood. I took off his shirt to put pressure on his wounds. He was bleeding in so many places. I did not know what to do," said Skyler. "I was about to faint myself. I took a plastic bag and put it on his bleeding chest. He had trouble breathing."
After using a radio to call for help, Skyler and several other soldiers were taken to a field hospital. Skyler’s friend survived.