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05. 05. 10. - 12:00

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05. 05. 10. - 12:00

Chernobyl radiation horror for Ukrainian mum

Tragic Veronica is the latest victim of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that has robbed her of her sight and friends and without urgent help eventually her life.

Her face has distorted so badly as a result of the radiation that hit her home village of Korosten in the Ukraine that doctors in the country now say there is no hope of saving her life if she stays there.

The only chance to help her is a procedure that can be carried out in Israel - but even though doctors have offered much of their services for free the impoverished family, who earn less than 100 pounds a month, still need to find 34,500 pounds to have the chance to save their daughter's life and end her agony.

Four-year-old Veronika’s mother, Svetlana, 31, says: "She is in permanent pain because she can no longer close her eyes and they are always dry and swollen. She can't close them at night either, and she can no longer see.

"It breaks my heart but I always cry silently so she does not hear me - at least she can't see my tears like she can't see the looks on the faces of the people when they see her.

"The doctor's tell me she has a rare cancer and that if it is not operated on she will eventually die. Our only hope is an operation in Israel but we do not have enough money."

She said that she still takes her daughter to the park and helps her on the slide and the swings but that the other children that come are scared of her - and usually run away.

Medics told German newspaper Bild that the rare type of cancer has started to develop around her optical nerves - pushing down on the nerves so she can no longer see and and pushing the eyeballs out of their sockets.

Svetlana says: "Sometimes her eyes are so dry that they literally fell out of her head – we had to hold them back in again - then she’s so scared she no longer sleeps in case the nightmare repeats itself."

Her village was hit by a massive dose of radiation after the Chernobyl disaster on April 26, 1986, which still affects children in the area.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine is considered the site of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history when a meltdown sent a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area.

The plume drifted over large parts of the Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia that had to be evacuated, with over 336,000 people resettled.

Svetlana said: "Veronika was an ordinary little girl until she was three, then I noticed she started to rub her eyes more frequently. They were red a lot. At first we thought it was an allergy - and gave her eye drops. Then the pain came and eventually her eyesight started to go - at first she could only see blurred images and now nothing at all.

"She was always so fond of her picture books and was called the "little librarian" in kindergarten because she always looked after the books on the bookshelf and was always looking at the pictures.

"Then her kindergarten friends avoided contact with her because her eyes started bulging out of her head more and more.

"My daughter always made friends easily – she was an outgoing child, enchanted by everybody and enchanting others in such a natural way. These days however there are few positive contacts between her and playmates - even though she desperately wants friends her age.

"After a year of looking I no longer believed there would be a cure but as a mother you can't stop - I experience my daughter’s suffering and I am one of the few people not shocked by her looks - she is always my little girl as I knew her in the first three years of her life.

"I’m only shocked by her pain. I love her more than anything."

She was finally offered the hope of saving her daughter's life by German charity "A heart for children" which is helping fund the treatment at the "Schneider Children's Medical Center" in Israel where the doctors believe they may be able to successfully fight the cancer.

Intensive chemotherapy that should make the tumors smaller is scheduled and then medics want to try to remove the tumors around the eye nerves to put the eyeballs back into their sockets.

Doctors admit they may not be able to save her life - but say the operation is the only chance she has.

* Journalismwithoutborders.com is helping the German Charity Ein Herz Fur Kinder to raise the 34,500 pounds needed for Veronica. Mum Svetlana says: "This therapy is really Veronika’s only chance. I can only hope for the neurosurgeon’s success in the operation. Getting her this treatment is all I can do for my daughter. There is no other easier way for her however much I pray."

Austrian Times

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