Seriously ill hero from Battle of Kosare gives Serbia pause, and now Dragan got his chance
Dragan Nikolic was at Kosare in 1999, where he was wounded after a grenade exploded near him
Dragan Nikolic (43), a war veteran from the Battle of Kosare and a native of the village of Crnojevica near Svrljig, who is seriously ill, has received more than three months of rehabilitation in Gamzigradska Banja (spa), after reporting by Telegraf.rs and the efforts of his comrades.
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Dragan is seriously ill, bedridden and has difficulty speaking. He suffered two strokes more than two months ago.
The story about the soldier from Kosare touched the public in Serbia, but also some authorities, and in early March he was admitted to the Special Hospital for Rehabilitation in Gamzigrad near Zajecar.
The municipality of Svrljig provided Dragan Nikolic with free testing for coronavirus, while the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans' Affairs and Social Affairs helped him get free treatment.
After the war, Dragan was also treated for post-traumatic stress disorder. He has a ten-year-old daughter, Dragana. In addition to the two of them, his brother Ivica and their father also live in the house, taking care of everything.
Sinisa Jevtic, also one of the fighters from Kosare, reminds us that the case of Dragan Nikolic is not the only one in Serbia, as well as that most of the former soldiers live hard lives.
"Unfortunately, Dragan is only one in a series of our heroes who have met such a fate."
After letters, pleas, calls on those in charge in veteranss' associations, the Clinical Center in Nis, the Svrljig municipality, officials in the Ministry of Veterans' Affairs, appeals on fellow soldiers, citizens speaking on social networks, media reports, Dragan received the treatment in the spa.
"As the doctors in Nis where Dragan was treated have said, his health changes are permanent. They recommended spa treatment and similar types of rehabilitation, which Dragan, in the end, fortunately received," says Jevtic.
Dragan Nikolic was at Kosare in 1999, where he was wounded after a grenade exploded near him.
His arms and legs became paralyzed at the time and he was treated in Pec. After the war, he suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, and recently had two strokes.
(S.Tasic)