An Aussie who lost his lower left leg and had his left hand ripped apart while fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war has issued a desperate plea for help from the Australian government.
Casey Gadaleta, 38, was a volunteer soldier fighting for Ukraine in Kursk, Russia, when his unit got close to an area manned by Russians and North Koreans. The Queenslander was serving with the 80th Brigade and using the call sign ‘Dundee’, after the classic 1986 Australian film Crocodile Dundee.
On December 8, four months after he was deployed, his six-man unit was in Kursk, deep into Russian territory, when he stood on a landmine and the explosion ripped through his left foot and left hand.
Gadaleta, who in 2021 was jailed for assaulting a man at a party, told Seven News on Thursday that delays and poor medical treatment in Ukraine led to his lower left leg being amputated due to necrosis.
He fears he will lose the use of his left hand and wants the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) to organise a medevac flight back to Australia for him.
But the former steelworker, who has a degree in science, said his plea to DFAT has not been answered.
‘I need bone grafts, tendon grafts, multiple surgeries. Then there’s the rehab,’ he said from his hospital bed in Kyiv.
Casey Gadaleta (pictured) lost his lower left leg and had his left hand ripped apart while fighting in the Russia-Ukraine war
‘I haven’t heard from DFAT, they haven’t given any assistance. The Australian Embassy in Poland said they’d call back in a couple of days, but never did.’
The longer he has to wait, the more critical Gadaleta’s need to urgent medical care becomes.
He recalled the horror of stepping on the landmine less than four weeks ago.
‘Literally like one step and there’s this bright light and I thought our guys accidentally dropped a grenade on me. I thought these guys just hit me by accident,’ he said.
Due to the shock his body went into, at first he didn’t feel anything, but the realisation of what happened soon kicked in.
‘Someone yelled out are you alright? and I said “Bro my leg’s gone”. He said ‘What?’ I said “Bro it’s gone”.’
The Russians started firing their weapons and advanced on his position. Then when he reached for his gun, he realised his left hand was in pieces.
His colleagues were not able to help him and he was told he had to use his medical training and using tourniquets to try to stop the bleeding.
‘I’m begging them, I’m breaking down. I shouted, “I’m gonna die, I’m gonna freeze to death. I’m bleeding so much.”‘
Gadaleta said he went 20 hours without first aid or pain relief while he sat, soaked in blood in -4 degrees.
‘I honestly thought, yeah, I’m gonna die.’
Casey Gadaleta (pictured) was a volunteer soldier fighting for Ukraine in Kursk, Russia, when he stepped on a landmine
Gadaleta (pictured) wants the Australian Government to fly him home for hospital treatment
Eventually, he was taken back to Ukraine, to a hospital in the capital Kyiv.
But the three-week wait for surgery led to him losing his lower leg, he said.
‘My leg died, it basically turned to a black colour. They had to amputate,’ he said.
He also has shrapnel in his arm and his face and is desperate to get back to Australia to be treated for his injuries.
Gadaleta said he volunteered for the Ukraine Armed Forces because of Russia’s war crimes in since it invaded its neighbour in February 2022.
‘I was disgusted with it and I thought, how can a human being do that to another human being? And I just thought, “I want to give my life to this cause,”‘ he said.
‘I wasn’t naive about it. I knew that with all the casualties it wasn’t a matter of if, but when I was injured.’
He also saw fighting in Ukraine as a way to atone for his past – as well as the assault conviction, he was also previously charged but cleared of attempted murder.
‘I sacrificed my body, and I was willing to sacrifice my life,’ he said. ‘I paid my own way here. I paid for my rent and food. I sold my investment property to cover it all.’
The Sunshine Coast man said the Australian Government should medevac him home as that would cost a fraction of the $1.3billion dollars it has spent on providing tanks, Bushmasters and aid for Ukraine.
Astonishingly, he said he wants to return to the battle after his injuries are treated and healed.
‘It hasn’t changed my attitude,’ he said.
‘I’m coming back as soon as my prosthetic is on.’
Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for comment.
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