In a remarkable demonstration of humanitarian commitment and resilience, Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International charity (CCI) has dispatched a specialised cardiac surgical team to Ukraine, in the hopes of saving the lives of children and babies with radiation related heart-defects, as the country prepares for a third Christmas of this grinding war.
One such baby, Nestor, has been nicknamed a ‘Christmas Angel’ as he has overcome the odds to survive an almost-fatal heart defect. Before Nestor was born, he was diagnosed with a very serious condition, which without surgery meant that he would not live beyond a few days. The local Ukrainian team did not have the expertise or equipment to treat the baby, so his parents believed that they would soon be planning his funeral.
However, in what was described locally as a ‘miracle’, the CCI funded surgeons arrived just on-time to undertake his complex surgery, which involved stopping his heart, putting him on bypass while they re-routed the flow of his heart. Baby Nestor has a long road of recovery ahead of him, with other procedures likely in his future, but it is hoped that he now has a 90% chance of reaching his fifth birthday and possibly avoiding need for a heart-transplant too.
Chernobyl Children International’s Voluntary CEO, Adi Roche, praised the surgical team, who will continue operating until Christmas eve, and the people of Ireland who funded Nestor’s life-saving surgery;
“The surgeons and nurses have the expertise and knowledge, but without the funding behind this trip, Nestor would have most certainly died before the end of the week…it’s a Christmas miracle. He was on death’s door. Nestor owes his life to the kindness and generosity of the Irish people who funded this mission. No other nation in the world has stood by and championed those whose lives have been destroyed by Chernobyl as much as Ireland has and this recent Cardiac mission is another reflection of Irish compassion”.
Since the onset of the conflict, the healthcare system in Ukraine has faced immense challenges, with hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of wounded, the mass exodus of qualified medical personnel and the deliberate targeting of medical facilities. Many children born with congenital heart defects, such as the fatal Chernobyl Heart, have been unable to receive necessary surgical interventions, leading to a rising number of preventable deaths.
Dr Bill Novick, the lead surgeon on the mission, has described the need to return to Ukraine despite the war;
“Explosions can be heard in the distance, and you can’t tell how close it is. We have experienced frequent bombardment but are not distracted by it. We are acutely aware of the challenges and dangers of operating in a war-torn country. However, the urgency of the children’s failing hearts demands immediate action. These children cannot wait, and we are determined to save as many lives as possible.”
This is the fourth mission that CCI have funded since the beginning of the year, which has resulted in many lives being saved and a marked increase in the local team’s skill and capacity. The Cork-based charity is hoping to raise enough funds to sustain the programme into 2025, in order to continue to save the lives of youngest victims of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
