Parents of seriously ill children are desperate after the attack
After the attack on a clinic in Kiev, there are not only dead and injured to mourn. Many parents are unsure how to proceed with the treatment of their seriously ill children. Some hope for the abroad, while others want to stay in their homeland despite major problems.
At the National Cancer Institute in the Ukrainian capital Kiev, things are busier than usual since a Russian rocket hit the largest children's hospital in the country this week. Dozens of young cancer patients had to be evacuated. The heaviest Russian shelling of Kiev in four months severely damaged the Ochmatdyt Children's Hospital on Monday, terrorizing families and severely affecting their children, who were already struggling with life-threatening illnesses. Now some families are faced with the dilemma of where to continue their children's treatment.
Oksana Halak received her son Dmytro's diagnosis in early June. He suffers from acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She quickly decided to have him treated at the Ochmatdyt Hospital - "because it's one of the best hospitals in Europe."
When the sirens went off in the whole city, she was at the hospital with Dmytro. They couldn't evacuate because the little boy was at an infusion. "It's crucial that these infusions not be interrupted," says Halak. The nurses helped bring Dmytro to a room without windows because it was safer. "We felt a strong pressure wave. We felt the room shaking and the lights went out," Halak recalls. "We realized that it was nearby, but we didn't think it was about Ochmatdyt."
They were evacuated to the National Cancer Institute shortly thereafter. Dmytro is one of 31 patients who now have to adjust to a new hospital while fighting cancer. With their arrival, the number of cancer patients at the institute has doubled. Dmytro and the other patients were offered evacuation to hospitals abroad. Halak wants her son to be taken to Germany for treatment. "We understand that in our situation we cannot get the help we should have, and we are forced to apply for an evacuation to the foreign country," she says.
Hospitals are overloaded
Other hospitals in Kiev, which have taken on children for treatment, are struggling with similar overloading. At the time of the attack, more than a hundred young patients were being treated in the children's hospital. "The destroyed Ochmatdyt is the pain of the entire nation," says Olena Yefimenko, the director general of the National Cancer Institute.
Immediately after the attack, calls for donations for the hospital's rebuilding were made on social media. Many parents, whose children were being treated there, wrote thank you messages: This hospital is to be thanked for the fact that their loved ones, despite problematic diagnoses, have survived.
Ukrainian women, men, and private businesses collected over seven million euros in donations through the UNITED24 donation platform in just three days. The rebuilding work at the hospital has already begun. Doctors at the institution must try to take care of their evacuated patients while trying to reopen the children's hospital. But even with determination and sufficient resources, it could take months.
Julija Wassylenko has decided that her eleven-year-old son Denys will still stay in Kiev for his cancer treatment. He was supposed to begin chemotherapy on the day of the attack. The attack delayed his treatment indefinitely. Denys has to undergo further examinations and tests, as his mother says.
During the attack, he was scared, she reports, while pushing Denys in a wheelchair through the National Cancer Institute. "The last days feel like an eternity", she said. They are recovering slowly from the stress. "If we go anywhere with our diagnosis, we would have to repeat all the tests from the beginning", she says. This could take between three and four months. "And we don't know if we have the time for that."
- The attack on Ukraine's largest children's hospital in Kiev has led to a political debate, with some politicians advocating for the evacuation of affected children to hospitals abroad, while others emphasize the importance of staying and rebuilding in the homeland.
- Despite the ongoing wars and conflicts in Ukraine, the circumstances have made it especially difficult for children like Dmytro Halak, who is being treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, as their hospitals are now overloaded and struggling to provide adequate care.
- The attack on the Ochmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kiev has brought attention to the plight of children caught in the crossfire of politics and war, and the urgent need for international support and resources to ensure they receive the medical treatment they require.
