Every day matters

Time for six-year-old Vova is measured in days. An unnamed illness is slowly taking away his movement, his words, his ability to live as he once did. A genetic test can help establish a diagnosis and determine the right treatment. There is no time to wait – we must act quickly!

Vova’s family are internally displaced from the Donetsk region. In April 2022, they had to leave their hometown of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka and start life over in Dnipro. They lost everything: their home and belongings, and now live in a rented apartment. The mother devotes all her time to her son, and the father works at a service station.

The boy was born healthy. The only concern was a speech delay, so Vova attended a specialized kindergarten and worked with a speech therapist. But at the end of April 2025, everything changed suddenly.

At first, Volodymyr began to tire quickly and would literally fall asleep from exhaustion. Later, his left leg weakened, and it became difficult for him to maintain balance. Within a month, the boy could only move with support, and later weakness appeared in his arms as well. He also stopped speaking.

In July last year, doctors found a 5 cm cyst in his brain. It was removed in August, but the child’s condition continued to worsen. Now Vova cannot walk or stand on his own, his body is affected by spasticity. He can only eat pureed food he can hardly swallow.

Volodymyr has undergone numerous examinations and consultations with the doctors, including at Okhmatdyt, the best children hospital in Ukraine. However, a diagnosis has not yet been established.

The only chance to understand the cause of his worsening condition is to conduct advanced whole genome sequencing, a modern method of genetic diagnostics.

Blood will be taken at the Vitalab laboratory in Dnipro and sent to the German laboratory G.LAB company. This test will help establish an accurate diagnosis and select treatment.

The cost of the test is too much for the boy's family to bear. With each passing day, Vova’s condition is getting worse, so there is no time to wait. Please support the child with any donation you can. Every hryvnia you give is a chance for Vova to live tomorrow.