Ukrainian bloggers tell about children who suffered burns during the war
Popular Ukrainian bloggers, including Oleksandr Pedan, Masha Sebova and Yaroslava Kravchenko, took part in the Unbroken by Fire charity photo project, which was created by dobro.ua and Kyivstar to help the Unbroken National Center. Its goal is to draw public attention to the problem of children's burns during the war and raise funds to purchase a medical laser that will allow saving children with complex injuries in Ukraine instead of taking them abroad.
Every year in Ukraine, 12 thousand children suffer burns, of which 25-40 children die as a result of life-threatening burns. Because of the war, this number is growing every day. Almost all mine-blast wounds are accompanied by thermal injuries in children. Burn injuries rank second among childhood injuries and are among the most difficult to treat.
"Burns are one of the most common and fatal injuries among Ukrainian children. The statistics of the victims is impressive. I want to share the story of a boy named Roman. On July 14, he and his mother went to visit their grandparents in Vinnytsia. On that day, the whole country learned the terrible news – the city had been hit by a missile attack. Roma was found by his father in the Vinnytsia Regional Hospital and only three days later, thanks to the results of DNA testing, he learned about the death of his 29-year-old wife, Halyna. The boy was in a very serious condition. About 45% of the child's body was covered with external burns, and another 35% with internal burns. They were so deep that in some places they even reached the bones. Romchik had to undergo a number of interventions, including skin transplants and plastic surgery. And all of this had to take place abroad, because Ukrainian hospitals do not have all the necessary equipment," says Pedan.
The light on the bloggers' bodies reflects the area affected by burns in children, young patients of the Unbroken Center based at the First Medical Association of Lviv. After all, light can be not only gentle but also destructive. Currently, the Center, which has become a medical hub and has helped more than 3,000 children since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, needs help in the form of an ultra-modern laser for skin resurfacing (laser resurfacing), resection and coagulation.
In simple words, the laser removes scars that remain on the body. And it's not just about aesthetics. After all, large scars after burns in children stop tissue growth and affect growth, which leads to deformation of the body. It also causes pain and discomfort.
No public hospital has such a laser, so the Children's Hope charity project aims to close the collection for the laser, which is currently underway on the dobro.ua charity platform!
The project was joined by: Oleksandr Pedan, Olena Mandziuk, Yana Metiolkina, Masha Sebova, Yasia Kravchenko, Arevik Arzumanova, Ihor Donskikh, Iryna Hutsal, Iryna Zaslavets, and Kateryna Shchepaniak.
