Ivan is struggling greatly – please help. 3

Six-year-old Ivan needs funds to continue rehabilitation – to keep developing and move closer to

his dream of walking independently.

Ivan was born in January 2020 weighing just 980 grams and measuring 36 cm. Already in the first

week – a brain hemorrhage and hydrocephalus. The doctors performed a complex surgery and

placed an Ommaya reservoir. For three months the boy could neither breathe nor eat independently

– intubated and fed through a tube.

In the fourth month, Ivan was transferred to Okhmatdyt, where he underwent three more surgeries –

two endoscopic procedures and the placement of a shunt. Only in the summer did the boy finally

return home. But the trials did not end: doctors diagnosed cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and deafness.

Thanks to a cochlear implant, Ivan can now hear the world around him.

In early 2022, the shunt stopped working properly – and once again hospital, once again

Okhmatdyt, three more surgeries over half a year. After all the surgeries and hospital stays, a new fight began – for every movement, for every new

skill. Ivan began attending rehabilitation centers and working with specialists – and this effort is not

in vain.

""My son enjoys the sessions: the stretching exercises in physical therapy help prevent contractures

and leg deformities. The speech therapist helps with his development, and most importantly – Ivan

really enjoys it. After rehabilitation the child has become more mobile, he balances his body better

and stands on his feet with support, new sounds have appeared, and clear babbling," says Ivan's

mother.

Please support a boy who has been through incredible trials – and does not stop. Help him attend a

new rehabilitation course!