Cancer Kids Ukraine

It looked as if everything was going to be all right. Zahar almost completed the next block of chemotherapy. We were going to send his blood samples to Israel. But… all of a sudden he got pneumonia and pulmonary edema. On December 31, in the morning, Zahar passed away. It is so difficult to write about it. How can we choose the right words? For the last several months Zahar and his family were living with hope. They hoped to raise the money and perform the bone marrow transplantation for Zahar in Israel. It would give the boy a chance to life. However, Zahar’s organism got too weak after the chemotherapy and couldn’t fight the infections and viruses any more. The boy passed away without recovering the consciousness.

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Julia passed away today at about 2 p.m. in her mother’s arms. She was fully conscious. In four months she could have celebrated her fourth birthday. Julia spent the last two weeks of her life at the intensive care unit suffering from the unbearable pain. Although her parents understand everything, they refuse to believe it. Thank you for helping this family. We did everything we could to save Julia’s life. (more…)

Valeria, a girl everyone loved so much, passed away… She died at the clinic in Germany. Her last days were warmed up with her mother’s love and the doctors’ kindness. So many people loved her! But she left. No words can describe our pain…

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Elina Chirvina passed away on September 9, 2009
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Antonina passed away last night, about 5 a.m. Her sufferings are over. Prior to that, she was discharged from the hospital because the doctors were unable to help her. Although Antonina’s parents didn’t tell her all the truth, she knew everything and was carrying her cross with utmost humility warming everyone around her with her love and kindness. (more…)

Artyom passed away on October 14, 2009. It happened very unexpectedly. The day before his father called and asked to help him with buying Granocyte. He said he would call later to let us know how many vials Artyom would need. Next morning Artyom was transferred to the intensive care unit, where he passed away very shortly… (more…)

Alina Kolesnik passed away on September 16. She was undergoing treatment for a year and a half in Donetsk. She had a retroperitoneum tumor with metastasis in the bone marrow. But everyone hoped for a miracle. Alina had a lot of people helping her with donor blood, with medications, or with money. We got used to Alina so much during this period of time that we have hard time believing she is not with us any more. Alina was a very shy, patient, and smiling girl. She had a lot of pain during the last week of her life. She was sleeping almost all the time. Sometimes she would moan. A new tumor grew instead of the removed one. Multiple metastasis spread into the liver, lungs, and adrenal glands. Alina passed away very quietly, without complaining about anything, with a smile on her lips.

Diana Mazur passed away. She was 5 years old and died of the neuroblastoma.

Yaroslav Rozovskiy passed away. He carried his cross with amazing humility, patience, and faith up to the very end. Unfortunately, the doctors were not able to help him. The disease was developing rapidly and the treatment turned out to be futile. God took his soul to the eternal home. (more…)

Vitaliy Oncha passed away today at 8.30 a.m. I don’t know what to say… The boy completed the protocol, went back home and all of a sudden his condition got worse. He was hospitalized to the intensive care unit, where he passed away. We were about to start the search of the clinic for the bone marrow transplantation, which is the only cure for the hybrid leukemia. Unfortunately, we ran out of time. Our priest was going to take communion to Vitaliy this weekend. Instead, he will have to attend a funeral service… (more…)

Vlad Kiselenko passed away on Sunday. He was undergoing treatment at the regional hospital in Kiev. Vlad had a very rare disease - Louis-Bar syndrome. Leukemia and lymphoma are typical complications of this disease. The patients diagnozed with Louis-Bar syndrome usually die at the age of 12-14 years old, with the only exception of a male patient from the USA, who died at the age of 30. (more…)

Mariana Glushak has passed away. She turned 18 years old on August 20. Mariana had an early intramedullary relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Daniel Velichko passed away on August 11. He had a relapse of neuroblastoma and secondary hybrid leukemia. Daniel was eight years old.

Mark Shipulya passed away on August 12 at about 3:30 p.m. This boy carried his cross with humility and patience up to the very last moment of his life.

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Bogdan Balashov passed away on August 10. Dozens and dozens of people were connected to this child through their prayers and love. Bogdan was the youngest child in the family of six kids. (more…)

Alexander Perevertailo passed away on August 9. He was the second youngest child in the family of seven kids. Alexander was five years old and died of acute lymphoblastic leukemia. (more…)

Alina Kisil passed away on August 3, 2009. She died at home. The doctors discharged Alina from the hospital about a month ago because the treatment was not effective any more. Alina’s parents decided that their daughter had to spend the rest of her life at home without painful medical procedures. At first, Alina got very excited about coming back home. She had good appetite for a week. But then she lost appetite and didn’t move until the last moment of her life. Now her sufferings are over…

Ulyana Bandurka passed away on August 2 at noon. Ulyana was a very bright, cheerful, playful, and kind girl. Up to her last moment she treated her disease as something temporal. She believed she would get better and would be able to run around and pick flowers again. Today Ulyana became an angel. She doesn’t have pain or fear any more. She doesn’t have a ceiling and four walls surrounding her. Thank you for being in the lives of those people who loved you. We couldn’t help loving you. You could warm up our souls with your smile. You will always be in our hearts. (more…)

Alexander Gavrilyuk passed away in July 2009.

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Edmond Padalko passed away today, at 8 a.m. He will not have any more pain. Please, pray for his adoptive parents Snezhana and Alexander, as well as for his brothers and sisters, for whom it’s a very grievous loss. (more…)

Katya Batsurovskaya has passed away. She had a cystic tumor of the brainstem. Katya was 11 years old.

Yesterday, Elena Skripka passed away. I loved this girl so much! I also know that I was not the only one who loved her. Dozens, if not hundreds, of people prayed for Elena, raised money for her treatment, worried about her. Elena was diagnozed with ovarian cancer with metastases back in 2007. I don’t know how she managed to endure so much suffering, especially during the last two months of her life. The pain that she had was merely unbearable. Honestly speaking, I cried right in front of the computer monitor when I read an email from her saying, “I am all right. Just sometimes I have some pain…” I cried because I knew what type of pain it was! But that’s just the way Elena was. She apologized for being “out of shape” to her grandfather who came to see her a few days before she died. She was encouraging her parents and friends. Elena was a very strong girl. She was a very wise girl. She was a very beautiful girl. She was a very cheerful girl. She was a very kind girl. She was a very just girl. She was a very, very, very… I don’t think I will need any more words to tell you about how much people loved her. We love you, Elena. We will always love you, no matter where you would be. Thank you for being in our lives!

In this picture, it looks as if Alexander wants to fly away. He has a smile on his face. Alexander had to undergo through nine years(!) of treatment for myeloblastosis. Today, at about 11 a.m., Alexander passed away. He doesn’t have any more pain or suffering. He was a very courageous guy with a big heart. Alexander completed his life journey. I want to give him a hug, shake his hand, and tap him on the shoulder so much! But it’s impossible. All I can say is, “See you, Alexander. See you soon.” And I will live in hope of our future meeting. (more…)

Larisa Romanenko passed away today. She completed two blocks of high-dose chemotherapy with a lot of complications. She was dreaming to go to Minsk (Belarus) for the bone marrow transplantation. She got an intense headache last night. The doctors think it was caused by the cephaledema. A few hours later she passed away. We have hard time believing Larisa has left us for good. Unfortunately, this is the reality. Larisa was a very courageous girl. She was patiently enduring all the complications and severe pain that she had. (more…)

Olga Netyuhailo passed away on July 18. Now she doesn’t have any more pain. Olga suffered so much during the last few weeks of her life. She was at the intensive care unit because her lungs and kidneys didn’t function any more. We would like to say thank you to everyone who was with Olga, who was supporting her, who prayed for her… Olga, you will always be in our hearts!

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Bogdan Shevchenko passed away on July 14. He left for good. He left for a place where there is no pain or suffering. He has completed a journey that was too hard for a boy of his age. I talked to his mother yesterday. She said, “I understand everything. But it’s my child and my heart doesn’t want to let him go.” Nobody wanted to let Bogdan go. Everyone was waiting for a Miracle. Everyone believed he would get better. Everyone prayed… Ten days ago I saw Bogdan off. He was going home with his parents. They were planning to go Pochaev Lavra. They never made it there. Bogdan was in a bad mood and didn’t even want to talk to me. But before leaving, he gave me a smile and waived his hand. He was so good-looking at that moment! That’s how I want to remember him: smiling and waiving goodbye. That’s how I would like you to remember him: a teenager with a trace of sadness in his eyes and a unique smile. (more…)

Dasha Korchak passed away on July 13, early in the morning. Dasha had to go through a lot of unbearable suffering during the last few days of her life. In addition to the intense pain, she also had difficulties breathing. She even had to sleep while sitting because she couldn’t lie down. However, she still wanted to live. She believed she would get better and would win a victory over her disease. Despite severe pain and deterioration of her health, she was dreaming about going to the seaside this summer, about going to her friend’s wedding, about eating green apples she liked so much. She would have celebrated her fourteenth birthday in two months. Dasha had been fighting against cancer for two years. But she had never been alone because her parents, blood donors, volunteers, and sponsors had always been with her. They were always ready to donate their blood, money, and time to her. Your support was giving Dasha faith, strength, and hope. But now it’s all over for her. She has no more pain and suffering. Dasha has completed this very difficult journey. Her family says thank you to everyone for your help. (more…)

Anna Avdyukhina has passed away.  We wanted you to live so much, in spite of your life threatening disease. We realized what your diagnosis meant from the very beginning. However, we hoped the miracle would happen. And it did happen: it was a miracle to spend the last four months of your life next to you. We were happy when you smiled, when you recited the poems and nursery rhymes. We wanted to save your life and truly believed we would. You gave us Faith. You gave us Hope. You changed our souls. We tried our best to do everything we could to make you smile. Our hearts used to sink every day when we waited for the results of the blood test. Yesterday morning you were looking at your parents, asking them something, saying how much you loved them. But yesterday afternoon God called you home.

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Nastya Stepanova passed away last night at 4 a.m. Nastya didn’t feel well for the last several weeks of her life. She had fever and low blood count. However, she recovered consciousness completed shortly before dieing. She gave a smile to her mother and… passed away. We would like to say thank you to everyone who was helping this family. Nastya could feel your support. She was excited about every present she got from you. We would also like to say thank you to a lady who wired a money transfer to Nastya just a couple of days ago. Nastya’s family will spend this money on the funerals… (more…)

Nikolai was fighting for his life up to the last moment. He had several cardiac arrests last week. But at 2 a.m. last night his heart stopped beating for good… It’s very hard to believe in his death. Not so long ago he used to run in the botanic garden, played in the game room and all of a sudden - a stroke… cardiac arrest… coma… death… It looks absurd. It should be that way… (more…)

Ivan Makarov has passed away. He was a very courageous boy. Ivan was fighting for his life for a year and a half. A couple of weeks ago, his condition got worse. He had several cardiac arrests. On June 29, his heart stopped for good… (more…)

Alexei Lavrinenko passed away today, on July 1, at 12:30 a.m. He had his first confession and communion last Saturday. Although he had very intense pain during the last three days of his life, he tried his best to be a strong boy…

Vladislav Valukenko passed away on June 27, 2009. He was 3 years old. Vladislav had a relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Masha Zotova passed away yesterday, at about 4 p.m., at the hospital in Singapore. Masha had a malignant neuroepithelioma of the right eye. She would have celebrated her third birthday on June 25… (more…)

This entry was prepared by Julia Nogovitsyna, our volunteer in charge of the weekly crafts and arts classes at the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev (Ohmatdet). “Katya Strashinskaya passed away on Friday, June 12, at 10 p.m. When I came to the hospital the next day, on Saturday, I saw Katya’s mother standing outside. She was surrounded by the group of other parents. Being unaware of what had happened, I continued smiling and joking. But as soon as I looked at Katya’s mother, I understood everything. It was not her black outfits that made me realize that Katya was not with us any more but her eyes. There was something infinitely hopeless in them. “Katya has passed away…”, she said. All I could do was hugging Katya’s mother and holding her in my arms. I am not good at finding words in such situations. I don’t think I ever will be.

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Maxim Gerasimenko has passed away today. He had epithelial hepatoblastoma, stage IV (liver cancer).

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Irene Ivanitskaya passed away on May 8, 2009. She was 14 years old. Irene had a relapse of medulloblastoma.

Last night, about 1.30 in the morning, I got a phone call from Larisa, a mother of Christina Shkuta. She called to tell me that Christina had passed away. Thanks God, she didn’t have intense pain during the last couple of days of her life. She just couldn’t sleep at night because of the respiratory problems. Today Christina’s parents had to call for an ambulance. The paramedics gave Christina a number of injections. When they left, she started wandering in her mind. She couldn’t understand where she was. Her parents and her elder brother were with her all the time. Her brother was sitting next to her, holding her hand and crying. Poor girl, she had to endure so much suffering…

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Angelina Sukhetskaya passed away on June 7, 2009.

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Lesya Piskalenko passed away this morning at the intensive care unit. Her journey was very long and very difficult. We wouldn’t able to take it. That’s why God didn’t give this cross to us, weak people. He gave it to Lesya, who carried it with meekness and humility to the end. Now she is with Jesus Christ. (more…)

For as long as we have known this girl, she has always been in pain. It looked as if pain became a part of her identity and had some power over her. Lena was enduring a severe pain. It may seem that her death means the victory of the disease over this girl, rather than the victory of her spirit. But is it true? Is everything we see with our eyes an absolute truth? Jesus said, “My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). Lena died a death of the chosen saints. We as Christians can only dream about a death like that: she passed away immediately after a confession followed by a communion. (more…)

Anna Tverdokhleb passed away on May 29. She endured a lot of suffering, including two relapses of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia, endless blocks of chemotherapy, hospitals, hospitals, and hospitals for the last five years of her life. She was one of the first children registered on our website several years ago. Anna was 9 years old.

Oleg Sukhenko has passed away. He had a hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver with metastases in the spine. He had been sick for more than three years. Oleg had four surgeries done. During the last surgery performed on May 26, 2009, he lost almost three liters of blood and had two cardiac standstills. Oleg passed away without being able to recover consciousness. He was 16 years old.

Vitaliy Lukashov passed away on May 25 at the intensive care unit in Kharkov. (more…)

Alina Sirbiladze has passed away. She had a brainstem tumor. Alina spent a week at the intensive care unit at the specialized children’s hospital in Kiev (Okhmatdet) fighting for her life after she got a cardiac standstill…

Milana Indyk has passed away. She was undergoing treatment at the Singapore National Institute. Milana had an infection in her lungs and spent the last days of her life at the intensive care unit. She just fell asleep to wake up with Jesus Christ. (more…)

Arthur touched our hearts with his innocent discretion. He was like a tender flower charming everyone around him with fragile beauty, so rare in this sinful and cruel world. He always smiled, never complained or blamed anyone. He was such a meek boy. Blessed are the meek for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. The Kingdom of Heaven… that’s where you are now. Arthur really enjoyed going for the confessions and communion. He even told his mother than one day he would like to become a priest… His already pure soul has been purified even more with the sufferings. He drank the cup of sufferings to the lees. Good bye, Arthur. Thank you for the love that you awoke in our hearts. Thank you for strengthening our faith. Thank you for all your redemptive sufferings. You can watch a short video about Arthur here (it’s in Russian) (more…)

Alexander Olefirenko passed away on May 21. He had a bone marrow transplantation done in Minsk almost a year ago. In March 2009, Alexander was supposed to finish the treatment. Instead, he was diagnozed with a relapse of the acute lymphoblastic leukemia. He had to start taking the chemotherapy drugs again, which affected his immune system and liver. Then he got a pneumonia that resulted in irreversible changes in his lungs.

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Pavel Kuzmenko passed away on May 14, 2009. He was 9 years old. Pavel fell sick with leukemia before he turned three years old. Then there were several years of treatment and two relapses. Pavel’s parents did their best to save his life but… He was a very quiet and kind-hearted boy. Pavel liked playing soccer. He was also very patient and diligent. He could spent hours on putting Lego together. Like any other kid, Pavel enjoyed watching the cartoons. He also had a dream that people never fell sick and never died…

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Vlad Onischenko passed away on May 12, 2009. He was only 4 years old. He died of the retroperitoneum neuroblastoma, which had spread into his bone marrow, right maxillary sinus, and left hip. Vlad was undergoing treatment at the Cancer Institute in Kiev.

Irene Pashkova passed away on May 11. She completed a very long treatment, achieved the remission, got over the news about the relapse. When she was admitted to the hospital with the relapse, she refused further treatment, primarily because of the cost involved. Although the doctors and her parents tried to convince Irene not to do that, she didn’t want to become a financial burden on her family, which already had her paralized aunt to look after. Irene lived at home for more than half a year. Her mother said she felt quite well. She enjoyed every moment of her life. Several days ago, Irene got the symptoms of the cold. On May 11, in the morning, she didn’t want to get out of bed. Instead, she asked her mother to bring a cup of tea to bed. When her mother came back to the bedroom with a cup of tea in her hand, she had time only to say good-bye to her daughter. Everything happened very suddenly… Irene was the only child of her parents.

Artyom Baistryuchenko has passed away. He left while waiting for the treatment to be resumed. They will bury him tomorrow. It is so hard to comprehend news like that, especially because we know that we failed to help him. We are not blaming anybody. We are just asking you: please, hurry up to do good. Today Artyom’s mother was weeping while saying thanks to everyone who tried to save her son’s life and was begging us to help another child with the same disease as Artyom had. Artyom was her late and only child. He had a non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Daniel Zolotaryov passed away last night. He was a new child on our website. We published his personal page just a couple of days ago, when he was still in coma… (more…)

Alexander Spivak passed away last night. He had a very long treatment. Alexander was between heaven and earth many times, but God and his parents’ love kept him going. During the last few months, he was receiving the communion very often. Last night, Alexander, who was so pure in his heart, left to spend the eternity with God. Please, pray for his parents while they are overcoming such a loss.

Ivan Balanda passed away on April 21, 2009. He died of a relapse of the retroperitoneum neuroblastoma with multiple metastases.

Alexander passed away today at about 1 p.m. I didn’t have a chance to spend a lot of time with him. However, I will remember Alexander for the rest of my life. I will remember Alexander’s mature understanding of our daily troubles and worries. He is right – you can take nothing with you from this life after you die. I didn’t see fear in his eyes. He knew he could die. He knew about it all the time. He stayed at the hospital where more than half of patients die. One day he told me that he could have another relapse. He told me about it very quietly, without pathos. He liked soccer and was Dinamo’s fan. He liked a river in his village. He liked riding a bicycle with his friends. He loved his mother and sister.

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Just yesterday, Olga was running up and down the hallway in the hospital, was playing with her mother, and was dreaming about hugging her father and playing with her brother… In the afternoon, she felt unwell. The doctors did some tests but the results were good. By early morning, Olga started breathing heavily. Then she whispered, “Mother, forgive me…” and passed away. Olga was like a ray of light in our lives. She was lightening our lives with her smile and energy. She enjoyed every minute of her life and loved everyone around her. Olga taught us a lot of things, which could seem very easy and basic at first sight. Now she is at her eternal home… (more…)

Olesya Donchak, who was undergoing treatment at the Cancer Institute in Kiev, passed away on March 28, 2009. (more…)

Last night, Nastya Pechegina passed away. She has completed her earthly journey and doesn’t have any more pain or suffering.

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Nastya passed away last night. She was fighting against her disease up to the last moment. But the disease turned out to be stronger than her… Both her father and mother were with Nastya when she passed away. God, please, give them strength to cope with this grief.

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Victoria died last Saturday. She had too much pain, which her little body couldn’t tolerate any more. God had mercy on her and took her home, where there will be no more pain, no more sicknesses, no more fear. There is only eternity and love there. Victoria does not suffer any more. However, her mother Julia does. She was fighting for her daughter’s life for three years. She was holding Victoria in her arms up to the last moment. She didn’t want to let her go. But this little anger flew away because angels do not belong here. They belong to heaven… (more…)

Bogdana Lompas passed away on March 26, 2009. She spent the last several days of her life in unbearable pain…

It’s so difficult to write about it, so painful… Yaroslav is not with us any more. He was fighting for his life so desperately for the last few months going through unbelievable sufferings. He couldn’t even cry any more. He could only moan. The only good thing about it is that he doesn’t have pain any more. He will never have pain any more. God, please, help his mother!

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Not so long ago we got news about Eugene Sytnik, who was undergoing treatment for myelodysplastic syndrome (anemia) in Italy. He passed away. Unfortunately, we don’t know the date of his death or any other details. We got this information from the doctors.

Sonya Godviy passed away on March 25, 2009. Thank you, Sonya, for teaching us how to love and how to show our compassion. (more…)

Anna Scherbina passed away on March 24, 2009. She was 11 years old. Anna had medulloblastoma of the vermis, obstructive hydrocephaly, and relapse of the tumor with metastases in her brain and spinal column.

Liliya Gnatchuk has passed away. (more…)

Ivanna Kuznetsova passed away on March 15, 2009. She was only one year and a half old. Ivanna died of the oligodendroastrocytoma (giant brain tumor).

The sufferings are over for Katya Kirnaeva. Her soul has departed. Now she is with God. The words from the Book of James (4:14) come to mind, “What is your life? It is even a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.” How often do we ponder over these words? Thank you, Katya, for reminding us that we don’t have a lot of time left to live. Do we remember that? Thank you for your courage, for the beauty of your soul, for the time that you spent with us. We will always remember you… (more…)

Yana Bashliy passed away on February 25, 2009 having left very warm memories in the hearts of those people who knew and loved her. Yana, her parents, and doctors were trying to overcome the disease for almost a year. Unfortunately, the tumor resumed its grows last autumn and didn’t respond to any medications. A year ago, Yana was able to recover from a very complicated surgery. She spent last summer at home and felt quite good. The doctors intended to perform the high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation… (more…)

Yegor Lysenko has passed away. God has interrupted the chain of his suffering and took this child to a place where there are no more diseases, no more suffering or pain…

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Lida Bandura has passed away. She spent the last three days of her life at the intensive care unit after she got internal bleeding last Sunday. Her mother was allowed to see Lida on Monday and on Tuesday. When Lida’s condition got worse, they couldn’t let her mother in. They let her in only when Lida had a few moments left to live. Her mother witnessed her death…

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Maxim is a very kind and affectionate person. He was born on December 29, 1990. He is the only child in the family (another child died soon after being born). Maxim is their long-awaited and beloved son. In March 2007, Maxim came back from school with backache after he had to jump for the physical education class. His parents took him to the doctor and Maxim was diagnozed with osteochondrosis. However, the treatment of osteochondrosis didn’t bring any results.

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Artyom Levitin passed away on February 10,2009. He had a relapse of the malignant granulomatosis. Artyom was 7 years old.

Darina Demchenko passed away on February 7, 2009. She was 3 years old. Darina died of myeloblastosis (M6).

On February 7, all of a sudden, Denis Churilo left this world… He had a lot of complications during the chemotherapy. He refused to each and didn’t even want to talk to his mother – it was his protest against being tube-fed. Every time I came to see Denis, he would ask me to bring some treat for him next time. The only condition was that he would have to eat the treat, when I bring it. Of course, Denis tried to keep his promise. This time I was in a hurry to get to the hospital and bring him juice, which could help improve his hemoglobin.

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Aurika Feraru passed away on February 7. She was surrounded by her loved ones and was praying up to the last minute of her life. Her mother said Aurika passed away with a prayer on her lips…

Katya Melashich passed away on February 4 at 11:20 p.m. She didn’t feel well for the last several weeks of her life. Although she didn’t have unbearable pain, she had problems with breathing all the time. They had to hook her up to the oxygen. She also spent a lot of time at the intense care unit. However, she was able to go through all these sufferings with dignity. She thought about her mother all the time and tried not to complain so that not to upset her.

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Lena was born on March 24, 2004. She fell sick in March 2008. She was hospitalized in the local hospital, where the doctors misdiagnozed her and prescribed treatment for kidneys. When we took Lena to Kiev, in April, 2008, she already couldn’t talk or walk. There she was diagnozed with medulloblastoma (cancer of the posterior cranial fossa). She had surgery done in Kiev. After the tumor was removed, she started recovering little by little. She started talking and walking again. Lena has completed radiotherapy. Now she will need to undergo the chemotherapy back in our local hospital. We will need your help to pay for that.

My name is Elena Repeta. I am asking you to help my son, Bogdan, who is 15 years old. Bogdan was born on September 1, 1992 in Kiev region. He is the only and long-awaited child in the family. He is an exemplary student. Bogdan has a lot of friends. He loves soccer and basketball. Three months ago he fell sick. Bogdan was complaining about the pain in the hip joint. The prescribed treatment made his pain only more intense. Bogdan couldn’t walk any more and had fever. Only after being examined by the doctors at the regional hospital in Kiev, we found out that Bogdan was sick with peripheral neuroectodermal tumor, stage IV.

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Valeria is 16 years old. She has been treated for lymphoma at the children’s hospital in Dnepropetrovsk (Ukraine). She had six blocks of chemo- and radiotherapy. Unfortunately, the tumor started growing again. This family has never asked anybody for help before. They did whatever they could to buy expensive medications and to find the donors. However, now Valeria’s mother is forced to ask for your help. She has sent the paperwork to the Helios clinic in Germany. We are waiting for a response from the German doctors. Valeria’s mother is very scared that they won’t be able to raise money to pay for the treatment of her daughter in Germany, in case the doctors from the Helios clinic agree to start the treatment. However, she believes there will be kind-hearted people who will help them overcome this disease. Here is a letter from Valeria’s mother.

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Dima was born on August 23, 1997. The most serious disease he had during his early childhood was a cold and a running nose. He was very playful and well-developed. Dima enjoyed spending a lot of time outdoors playing soccer. He also liked fishing, swimming, and playing with his friends. Dima was hospitalized on April 24, 2008 after he got enlarged lymph nodes. His mother, Catherine, could not believe the diagnosis (B-cell lymphoma).

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My name is Anna. I am Diana’s mother. Let me share our grief with you. Our beloved daughter is at the hospital again. My husband and I were hoping this nightmare would be over. That’s why we felt relieved when the doctors told us to come to the hospital just for a routine check-up. But that was not God’s will. Diana was diagnozed with bilinear lymphoblastic leukemia L-1. In May 2007, we took Diana to the hospital because she had enlarged spleen. That’s when it all started. This spring we had to take her to the hospital again because of the enlarged spleen. But this time the situation got worse. (more…)