First, let’s look at the awkward wording: “One of them told me, ‘I don’t know how I am still alive, there was so much blood, I thought I’d die of blood poisoning’,” she said,
This was not only awkward wording, but also bad punctuation. It should have been punctuated: “One of them told me, ‘I don’t know..............blood poisoning’, she said.” That correct punctuation makes it clear which is the soldiers quote ‘ ‘, and which is her quote “ “.
As to her statement she had “never heard anything so horrible” at age 41, that does not surprise me. At age 39 I had not heard anything so horrible until I entered group therapy first as a customer, then as a trainee, finally with ten years of seeing individuals with serious emotional problems who had not been helped by conventional therapy. The methodology I studied and used involved open ended sessions, not the usual 50 minute hour routinely used by mental health practitioners. The training sessions involved 3 hours of clients paired to work together in a large group setting under supervision of a trained therapist. This allowed each person 1 1/2 hours for their own issues. After we finished the 3 hours we would meet as a group to share what we had learned if we wished to. Often this sharing would stir up new intense feelings and the therapist would encourage that person to pick a partner and go back to the other room to work out the issues some more.
When I saw individuals, the sessions often lasted 1 1/2 hours, and sometimes longer. I never ended a session until we both felt the issue at hand was finished for that day. [I hope what I write next does not offend.]
People I knew or worked with had experienced such trauma as erotic abuse from age 2 into teen years by multiple family members; similar abuse by a brother using the family dog for the act; and imprisonment experiencing such acts for 8 hours, after which the child (age 7 or 8) was released, went home, was ignored, fell asleep for 24 hours, and never remembered it until the day I helped him recover the memory (now as an alcoholic in his 30s).
Regarding the woman who was pleased at the medical care she had received, we don’t know if she was one of the many women who Russian soldiers have raped in Ukraine. Had I gotten pregnant after being raped, I would be very pleased if I received good medical care including a desired abortion. I would still be furious with the rapist and wish he was dead for forcing me to have to make such a painful choice.
I have only known one intersex person (someone born with both male and female body parts). They presented as male, but I don’t know if their female parts had been removed. I do know there have been some tragic outcomes when doctors have encouraged parents to choose one sex long before the baby becomes a child or teen with obvious interests and hormonal inclinations.
The placement of the single quotes, double quotes, and commas in the original article is nearly correct - for a U.S.-American text.
Specifically, in the above passage, I've colored the incorrectly place single quote in bold RED, and shifted it to its proper place (in bold BLUE).
British conventions differ, as do, e.g., German punctuation rules (I handled all kinds of such texts for 30 years as a professional copy-editor).
Regards,