Vova would not know there's a struggle raging proper exterior his window.
He would not perceive the that means of the air raid sirens. He's unaware of the destruction attributable to Russian bombs dropping on Kyiv. He simply needs to construct towers from his toy blocks and press the buttons on his mother's cellphone that make it play songs and cartoons he likes.
Vova, a pet title for Volodymyr, is 17 and has Opitz-Kaveggia syndrome, a uncommon genetic situation that causes extreme mental disabilities. He wants round the clock care and anti-seizure remedy that has turn out to be not possible to acquire as Russian troops shut in on the Ukrainian capital, based on his mom, Natalia Komarenko.
"We're unable to get the medicines we desperately want -- anticonvulsant medication Levetiracetam and Lamotrigine. He has been taking them since he was 10," she advised CNN.
- WATCH: One-on-one with PM Trudeau
- Newest updates on the Russia-Ukraine disaster
- 'We heard bombs': Terrified refugees escape via short-term corridors
Evacuation isn't an choice for the Komarenkos as a result of Vova's situation makes journey extraordinarily dangerous.
"We won't take him by prepare, as a result of at any second he might have a seizure and his temperature might rise. He might not all the time voice his have to go to the lavatory, and he cannot be left unattended even for a minute," Komarenko mentioned, including that driving can be harmful, in case he has a seizure.
"We won't even run downstairs to the bomb shelters. We largely cover within the hall of our residence, within the lavatory or the bathroom," she mentioned.
Vova and his household are amongst hundreds of Kyiv households that can't depart the town due to well being situations.
Komarenko heads a charitable basis referred to as Z teplom u sertsi (Ukrainian for "With Heat within the Coronary heart").The group brings collectively and creates assist networks for Kyivfamilies dwelling with disabilities. Solely 20 to 50 of the 1,247 households within the group — round 260 individuals in all -- have been capable of flee the capital, based on Komarenko.
The European Incapacity Discussion board, a pan-European NGO, estimates there are 2.7 million individuals with disabilities in Ukraine. In accordance with Inclusion Europe, one other NGO, there are round 261,000 individuals in Ukraine with mental disabilities that make them extraordinarily weak to the battle.
No less than 100,000 of them, largely kids, dwell in care houses and establishments. Their possibilities of getting overseas are slim.
The journey out is lengthy and arduous, even for households not going through the extra problem of incapacity. For these coping with critical well being situations, it's practically not possible.
Daryna Chuiska has been caught close to the Polish border together with her daughter Vika for a number of days. Vika, 10, has cerebral palsy and bronchial asthma and desperately must resume her bodily remedy.
"Vika has been with out rehabilitation for a really very long time, her situation is deteriorating," Chuiska mentioned. "She is consistently rising and her muscle tissues don't develop on the similar tempo, so she is beginning to lose the progress. She has began falling whereas strolling and her legs aren't creating properly, she has ache in her legs now."
The journeyfrom their hometown in central Ukraine to the border took days and has been exhausting for Vika. Her situation has deteriorated. The pair spent a number of days hiding in basements, the place Vika developed a dry cough and shortness of breath. They have been sleeping of their garments, listening to the thunder of planes overhead.
"At night time Vika began having seizures. Final time she had seizures she was 5 years outdated, she hasn't suffered from seizures since then," Chuiska mentioned. She believes Vika's seizures have been introduced on by the stress of the journey and the damp situations in among the basements during which they stayed.
Chuiska advised CNN she has secured a spot for Vika with a number household in Germany who've organized the essential remedy for her. However they should get there on their very own.
Up to now, Chuiska hasn't been capable of finding transportation. Vika is severely allergic to cats, which makes it not possible for the 2 of them to comply with the tons of of hundreds of Ukrainians who took the prepare to Poland.
"The trains and buses are filled with pets, so it's too harmful for her," Chuiska mentioned. At one level, she and Vika have been very near getting throughout the border, having secured a automobile to take them there.
"However the individual stopped choosing up the cellphone. There's one other choice to get to the border after which stroll for 3 kilometers, however Vika cannot stroll that lengthy," she mentioned. Another person additionally provided a elevate -- however provided that she transferred cash first. Chuiska, worrying it was a rip-off, refused. For now, they continue to be close to the border, on the lookout for a protected means out.
'WE HAVE TO SURVIVE'
Olena Tsarenko, who can be concerned within the Z teplom u sertsi group, is a type of who made it out. She fled together with her two daughters, her mom and Amour, the household canine.
Tsarenko and different households with disabled kids traveled from Kyiv to Warsaw after the invasion began on February 24. The prepare journey took two days, then they traveled additional by bus.
Tsarenko's 10-year outdated daughter Veronika has autism and would not converse. The one factor she will say is "mother." To Tsarenko's shock, Veronika remained comparatively calm all through the journey.
"It was a really arduous and exhausting journey and I do not know what occurred, however Veronika wasn't crying. However now all night time lengthy, she's crying and she or he's in misery," she mentioned.
Tsarenko mentioned the choice to go away Kyiv was extremely arduous, and she or he nonetheless feels responsible about it.
"I really feel like I ought to have stayed in Kyiv and labored, however I'm additionally the one one who can handle my household, so my mother intuition says please, Olena, you should save Mary and Vera. However I really feel responsible ... all my associates are there. The individuals who keep in Ukraine are heroes," she mentioned. Since attending to Warsaw, she has spent her time volunteering, making sandwiches for fellow refugees caught on the border and serving to prepare assist for different households from the Z teplom u sertsi group.
Veronika is now getting the medical consideration and the remainder she wants. She will be able to't categorical her emotions, however Tsarenko believes her daughter understands what is occurring to her dwelling nation.
"On daily basis she's listening to this music referred to as 'Now we have to outlive.' She is taking part in it on YouTube and from morning till the night she is listening, and listening repeatedly on the cellphone. And I enable her to take heed to this music as a result of it calms her down," she mentioned.
Post a Comment