The boy who dreams of growing up

Vitalik was a big strong baby when he was born – he weighed about 10 pounds – but within the first few days of his life, he started getting sick. Ahead of him were many weeks spent in intensive care units, choking and coughing till he turned blue... The doctors could not figure out what was wrong with him but kept trying, and he finally got diagnosed with cystic fibrosis by the time he was nine months old. "We have been fighting this illness for 10 years now. I don't want my child to die! He hasn't even been able to see much of life besides hospitals, medications, and IVs. Every day, we fight for his life, for every breath of air. Every single day my son has to do nine nebulizer treatments and take handfuls of medications. And when his oxygen saturation drops too low, he has to lie down and hook up his oxygen. All of Vitalik's young life is taken up by medications and hospitals. And paying for all this takes a lot of money, and we always come up short," Vitalik's mother writes to us, hoping for our help. 

Vitalik is a calm and cheerful child; he loves animals. All the dogs, cats, turtles, parakeets, pet fish – all the living creatures he comes across – if he could, he would bring them all home, he loves all of them. He likes to draw and to play with other children. He is also very fond of fishing – he can spend an entire day by the riverside, with his fishing rod. It is easier for him to breathe out there, in the fresh air. Vitalik has not been able to attend school but he loves learning new things and is always interested in everything. Because he is sick so often, he has very few friends. Despite that, he is a happy boy and his dream is to grow up and to become a doctor, in order to treat other children with cystic fibrosis. His dream is for all children to be healthy.

Cystic fibrosis is a severe and incurable illness. However, even though we cannot cure Vitalik, we can help him in his fight. His mother is asking for our help in buying the medical equipment and medications, which Vitalik will use daily to fight off the attacks of illness. And we can do that – with your help.

Name: Matviichuk Vitalii, 28.01.2008

City: Plesna village, Khmelnytskyi region

Diagnosis: cystic fibrosis with pancreatic insufficiency