As the Russia-Ukraine war continues, young Ukrainian cancer patients are getting healthy-livingin a safer place.
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Yeva Vakulenko, almost 2 years old, was receiving treatment for leukemia in a Lviv hospital when Russia invaded conflicts on Feb. 24.
Nadia Kryminec holds her 22-month-old granddaughter Yeva Vakulenko, who has leukemia, at a clinic in Bocheniec, Poland, on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Pawel Kuczynski)
The invasion disrupted her treatment and forced her to shelter in the hospital’s basement for hours at a time. Her grandmother and caregiver, Nadia Kryminec, told AP that when doctors gave her granddaughter the opportunity to evacuate to Poland, she immediately took it.
“It is very difficult for children to go somewhere in the middle of the night and sit in the basement for a long time,” Kryminec told AP.
“We were told that she was in stable condition, and we should try to go. Otherwise, she is simply doomed to death,” she added.
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Anna Riabiko, from Poltava, Ukraine, also spoke to AP from the Unicorn Clinic. Riabiko was there with her daughter Lubov, who has neuroblastoma, AP reported.
Children eat lunch at a clinic in Bocheniec, Poland, on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Pawel Kuczynski)
“Treatment is currently impossible in Ukraine,” Riabiko told AP. “Fighting is taking place, there are no doctors, it is impossible to have surgery or chemotherapy. And even maintenance therapy is also impossible to obtain.”
“So we had to look for salvation somewhere,” she added.
AP reported that St. Jude, the Polish Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, Poland’s Fundacja Herosi (Heroes Foundation), and the Ukrainain charity Tabletochki have been working together to evacuate young cancer patients since Russia invaded Ukraine.
The Unicorn Clinic of Marian Wilemski in Bocheniec, Poland, on Thursday, March 17, 2022.
(AP Photo/Pawel Kuczynski)
The World Health Organization said last week that one of the major health challenges resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war is cancer.
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“Cancer itself is a problem, but treatment interruptions, stress and risk of infection mean that hundreds of children might die prematurely,” Dr. Roman Kizyma, head of the Western Ukrainian Specialized Children’s Medical Centre in Lviv, said, per AP.
AP reported that pediatric oncology patients are first stabilized at the Western Ukrainian Specialized Children’s Medical Centre in Lviv before they are sent across the border into Poland.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
