NICOSIA – He was hit by seven bullets during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, one of which was explosive and struck his face. After three months in a coma, he woke up. He survived.

This is the story of Spyros Melachrinos, who passed away and was buried recently in the Agios Athanasios church in Limassol, Cyprus.

Vassos Vasilios wrote about him in a story featured in the newspaper Phileleftheros.

Spyros himself offered his testimony to the newspaper Lemesos. Here’s what he recounted:

“I served in the 12th Tactical Unit of Kythrea and was the driver of the Commander. The war started on a Saturday, and we were surrounded by several Turkish-Cypriot villages, which we captured. On Monday afternoon, we reached… Tziaos, and then the ceasefire took place. On Wednesday morning, the Commander and I went to inspect a company near Sygchari, where he gave combat positions, and we were ready to return. Then we saw 3-4 buses from Lympousa with soldiers. There was intense discussion among us about whether they were Turks or Greek-Cypriots in the bus. As they approached, the Commander sent 2-3 soldiers to confirm their nationality, and they were killed, leading to a prolonged battle. The Commander took the car by himself to get help. That help never arrived…”

Melachrinos continued: “The battle I fought in was with the ‘betrayed 361 battalion’. During the battle, I was seriously injured in both legs, hands, and face. Only five soldiers remained alive with me. The help we awaited never came, so we decided to break through the siege, as 200 Turks had surrounded us within 20 minutes. Along with the lieutenant and three other soldiers, we started to try to escape. The lieutenant stood up to cross the road and was shot. I raised my head to see them, and they shot me in the jaw, causing severe injury. One soldier began to cry, threw [down] his weapon, and the Turks killed him as they captured the last one. They approached me, saw I was in a terrible condition, shot me in the chest, and left.

Ten minutes after they left, I found the strength to get up.”

Hope that he would find comrades to help him gave him strength. “I walked for a while and found refuge in a mine, where I met two injured Greek-Cypriot soldiers, one with a chest wound and the other with a severely injured leg. I couldn’t speak, so I found a pen and paper in my pocket and wrote that I was thirsty. They found a canteen with water in the mine, but when I tried to drink, the water spilled over me; I tried again, and the same thing happened. That’s when I realized I had no jaw. I spent Thursday and Friday inside the mine, bleeding profusely, and realized that if I stayed there, I wouldn’t survive for long. I then faced a serious dilemma. If I stayed in the safety of the mine, I would die from blood loss. On the other hand, if I went out, I would be seeking help at the risk of being discovered and killed. Determined to make a heroic exit, I wrote on the paper that I would send help for the two injured soldiers as soon as I found it.”

That determination kept him moving, fatigue and pain notwithstanding. “Every five steps, I fell again and again, as my body was collapsing, until I saw soldiers whose nationality I couldn’t distinguish. I then faced the second major dilemma. Should I signal to the car or not? Either way, I was lost; either I would die from blood loss alone, or they would kill me if they were Turks. I decided to signal to them, and fortunately, they were Greek-Cypriots. They put me on a donkey and led me to the nearest village. The only thing I remember is that I managed to write on a piece of paper ‘SPYROS MELACHRINOS – 19 YEARS OLD – ARGAKI MORFOU,’ and then I fainted. I woke up after three months, having fallen into a coma…”