Life-Saving Treatment for Kids in Ukraine

Dear friends,

thank you for supporting Ukrainian kids with cancer!

Now our team is celebrating 10^th anniversary of Zaporuka Foundation. It is time to look back and to see what we have accomplished. We would like to share it with you.

During this time we helped more 2000 kids with cancer providing them with medicines and therapies for the total amount of more than 3 million dollars. More than 300 000 dollars were used to purchase medical equipment for pediatric departments of the hospitals in Ukraine.  About 190 000 dollars were used to renovate the departments. 

In 10 years our psychologists provided 7000 parents and 3000 children with psychological support sessions. Our physiotherapists provided 300 children with rehabilitation sessions. More than 250 teenagers from all over Ukraine participated in our camps for cancer survivors. More than 1600 doctors participated in seminars about early cancer symptoms in the context of our Program Early Detection of Childhood Cancer.

In these numbers there are many stories of kids who live, grow up and from time to time come to visit us. There are stories of those who sadly didn’t make it. We know that we cannot save everyone. But what really matters is that we can give chance to everyone.

When Lera that you see in the picture came to the doctor for a diagnosis, she was told: “The tumor affected a large part of the bone. You have two months left to live”. But Lera didn’t give up and with the support of many people she got her chance and survived. She has a bone prosthesis in her leg but thanks to hours of hard work with the physiotherapist it’s not a problem.

That’s our motivation to continue doing what we do. And without you it would be impossible. Thank you!

Dear friends,

thank you for helping kids affected by cancer from Ukraine in 2017!

It’s time to share with you the results of Zaporuka Foundation activities in the previous year. 154 children affected by cancer received individual assistance, that is medicines, medical supplies, examinations which are not provided by the state. 20 children received examinations or treatment abroad that were not available in Ukraine. 830 rehabilitation sessions and 289 psychological consultations were provided for children by our specialists. For more information about all our activities, please, see the infographics in attachment.

Serhii, the boy you see in the picture, is one of these 154 children. He comes from a low-income Ukrainian family that was shocked by a diagnosis of cancer. As the boy’s mom Katia says: “Serhii is my late son. He was born when I and my husband were losing hope to have kids. We devoted ourselves completely to raising our son. He was healthy, almost never caught a cold, so we couldn’t imagine such a terrible diagnosis as cancer. It was devastating!”

Serhii’s parents cannot afford to buy all the medicines and the supplies that are not available at the hospital. And Zaporuka Foundation takes care of the family providing the boy with everything required for treatment. As Serhii has a tumor in the bone, he also needs rehabilitation to be able to walk after the surgery. Working with our physiotherapist motivates Serhii a lot because he sees how his efforts result in progress.

This 13-year old boy is very curious and cheerful. He made a lot of friends at the hospital. He likes to spend time with his peers from other wards. Even when he is receiving chemo and feels bad, he jokes about it and tries to find a distraction watching his favorite horror movies. He doesn’t give up and continues fighting for his life. His positive attitude is his strength.

Serhii and many kids like him get help thanks to your contributions. We hope that you will be there for these kids in 2018 too.

P.S. You can support these kids participating in the Little by Little Matching Campaign (April 9 - 13th)! During this week, GlobalGiving will match donations up to $50 at 50% with $50,000 in matching funds. Also there will be an additional 100% match on recurring donations. Thank you!

• Report_Zaporuka_2017.pdf (PDF)