Greetings, dear friends!
Thank you for your persisting support!
In October, we have financially supported Savva Balabanov, 12 y.o., hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, and Maxim Antonenko, 29 y.o., progressive squamous cell carcinoma.
In November, our help is required by:

Tamara Rastegaeva, 6 y. o., Donetsk region, Ukraine, diffuse astrocytoma (brain tumor). Tamara urgently needs a treatment. The tumor is very large, almost 10 cm. The Turkish clinic Liv Hospital accepts the girl for the treatment. If everything is done quickly, the chance of recovery exceeds 80 percent. Yet the family does not have enough money for the treatment, the amount required is very large. The mother, who is raising her daughter alone, calls for help. Tamara is her only child. For the first stage of treatment, € 32,000 is needed. Almost a half of this amount has already been collected. € 17,000 is still lacking.

Anastasia Vidyuk, 8 y.o., Khmelnytsky region, Ukraine, type 1 SMA The disease deprived Anastasia of the ability to walk on her own. At the moment, she cannot even breath on her own – the girl is connected to a ventilator. She also does not have a swallowing reflex, her mother feeds Anastasia through a nasogastric tube. She cannot move independently, she is confined to a wheelchair. Despite of all, Anastasia is a very active and smart girl, her intellect is completely preserved. Anastasia is in the third grade at school, has excellent grades, loves to make various things with her hands. Unfortunately, the battery in the ventilator has failed. This puts her life at risk: now Anastasia is unable to go outside and fears a power outage. If the ventilator stops working, Anastasia will stop breathing: she cannot do this on her own. The mother is the only one who takes care of Anastasia. The only source of income is the disability pension. They need help for buying the battery for the ventilator. This would give the family the confidence for the future, they would go out for strolls and communication with children. Most importantly, it will save Anastasia’s life from a sudden power outages. The battery costs € 574.

Darina and Bogdana Struk, Volyn region, Ukraine, 18 y. o., osteogenesis imperfecta. “We are Darina and Bogdana, we are twins, we live in a small village. Since childhood, we suffer from a rare disease, popularly nicknamed brittle bone disease. We are 18 years old, but we are a little more than a meter long. Our fragile bones have been fractured many times since the birth. Each of us has suffered more than 10 fractures, the causes of which seemed insignificant. This brought us a lot of suffering. From the slightest bruises, the bones break and it takes a long and painful time to recover. Only God alone knows how much pain we have already endured and how many tears we and our poor parents have shed! For a long time we could not walk on our own, so they carried us in their arms. Later, special bicycles were purchased for us. Now, we can walk with crutches. Our beloved parents, who have retired already, do their best for us! “ To make the life for Darina and Bogdana tolerable, and to relieve their pain, a number of expensive surgeries are required. The attempts to arrange this have been going on for a long time. In January 2019, they have visited a professor at the St Augustin Clinic. The professor suggested 4 operations to each. The treatment would have lasted 1.5 years. Yet they were not able to start it – while they received a preliminary invoice and collected money, the professor has already retired. Then they turned to a Bonn clinic and have paid for the consultation again. The professor there suggested 2 operations for each sister. In March 2020, they came for the first operation. The blood was taken, the appointment with an anesthetist was held. Yet the professor got sick. The girls had to wait for about a week. At this time, covid crisis has happened, sothe clinics stopped accepting foreign patients. The girls had to fly home on a special flight of the Ukrainian airline. Later, the date of the operation was postponed by the clinic several times, since the girls are at a high risk. Now Darina and Bogdana are expected at the Bonn clinic. The plan is to align and strengthen the bones with the help of plates and pins. This will give them the opportunity to live without pain and fear of falling, to practice more active life, to get a profession in order to care for themselves in the future. However, the clinic requires the entire amount for all 4 operations at once. This is about € 200,000. With the help of relatives, teachers, neighbors, acquaintances and friends, some of the money has already been raised. The main amount was committed by Russian, Ukrainian and German charity funds. However, if the operations do not take place before January 2022, then all this money will be lost: the funds do not help patients over 19 years old. It remains to collect € 30,000.

Valery Davydov, 12 y. o., Moscow, the consequences of a traumatic brain injury. In October 2020, Valery was hit by a car. He got a severe open head injury. He was in a coma for 3 weeks, and later became a palliative patient. The parents managed to get the child to Barcelona for the rehabilitation. Good methods and specialists, a warm attitude, praise and motivation of the child during the exercises, an accessible environment both in the clinic and in the city, access to the swimming pool with a gastrostomy tube – all this gave the positive results. After a year of treatment, Valery is clearly showing the dynamics towards recovery. The palliative status should be withdrawn soon. Valery can hold her head up, turns on his own in the bed, makes attempts to sit down. He breathes on his own without a tracheostomy. The doctors are working on the removal of the gastrostomy tube. Valery has regained clear consciousness, understanding and logic. He recognizes his parents, can read, recalls the school English language curriculum. He tries to talk. Yet for now he can only utter the ɑ: sound and two words: “Mother” and “Amen”. The left arm and leg are just starting to move. He cannot yet hold a glass or a spoon. The family is raising funds to continue their rehabilitation at the Guttmann Clinic in Barcelona. The cost of 3 months of rehabilitation is about € 15,000. So far they have managed to collect € 1200. The father is the only breadwinner in the family, the mother was fired from her job because of non-attendance due to the illness of her son. The family also has a younger daughter, she is 6 y. o. For Valery’s rehabilitation, it is necessary to raise € 13,500 more.

HURRY TO DO GOOD!
I wish health to you all! Take care of yourself and your loved ones!
I embrace you heartily,
Yours Alina Titova