The Chemist’s Second Shift

For 48 years, Oleksandr Nelipovych kept the machinery of Sievierodonetsk’s chemical plant running. At 76, the mechanic takes pride not in the positions he held, but in always being needed. “I went through various roles, ” he says, “but what I’m most proud of is that I was always necessary.”

His life, like the chemical processes he oversaw, underwent a dramatic transformation. Having witnessed military movements through his city in 2014, he didn’t realize it was just the prelude. By May 2022, his home was destroyed, and his son, now serving in the military, arranged his evacuation through his daughter-in-law.

The journey took him from Sloviansk to Lviv, then to Ivano-Frankivsk, and finally to Kalush. Each move was like adjusting a complex mechanism, requiring precise timing and careful calibration. His years of technical expertise helped him adapt to each new situation.

On December 19, 2024, Oleksandr moved into apartment 1.3A at Senior Chudo Village. Though he faces age-related changes, he maintains the steady resilience that characterized his decades at the chemical plant.

His singular goal echoes many parents with children in service: “To see my son.”

To young people, he offers advice distilled from nearly five decades of industrial experience: “Be persistent and don’t waste time on the unnecessary. Life passes quickly, keep only what’s essential in your heart.”

About Hansen’s mission, the veteran mechanic applies his technical precision: “People who can help often do it just for image. But Hansen’s mission is something more. It’s real support for people who would have nothing to hope for. I’m grateful to him for the chance to live in peace. If there were more such people, the world would be better.”

Now, while hoping for better transportation links and closer pharmacies, this lifelong mechanic has found a new kind of machinery to maintain — the machinery of hope, carefully calibrated day by day as he waits to reunite with his son serving in the military.