"Crystal" Bogdan

Bogdan is 13. He attends a regular school, receives excellent marks, he is interested in computers and writes interesting stories. His parents are proud and happy that they have such a son, but Bogdan’s diagnosis overshadows their joy. The boy lives with a rare genetic disease – osteogenesis imperfecta: his bones are so brittle that they break from any careless movement or kick. These children are called "crystal". Due to the disease, Bogdan was born with broken legs, and when he was 10 years old, he already had 25 fractures: his legs got broken every 3-4 months.

Brave boy underwent more than 10 complex operations, during which telescopic legs pins – special metal rods that supported and protected bones from fractures – were inserted into his bones. After the operation, the boy could do physical exercises, morning exercises and could move independently.

Despite the illness and pain, Bogdan is extremely intelligent boy. "Being a 6-month-old baby, he began to speak, and in a year he could recite poems – the boy has amazing memory,” -says Liudmyla, Bogdan’s mother. “My son was never forced to learn. In three years, he already could read in Ukrainian and Russian. When Bogdan was 8, he started to write wonderful stories. He even created his own website, where he published his tales. The boy developed a web page for the village school he attends. In his 13 he easily repairs computers and works with software."

However, over time the boy grows and develops physically, thus installed metal pins can not withstand the load and get deformed. Now, almost all the pins are out of the growth zone of the boy. He needs an urgent replacement of the left tibia and eventually a pin in the right leg and two pins in the loins should be replaced as well. These "growing pins" are much more effective than conventional metal ones and will serve up to 5 years, but the cost of one required segment is 21 400 UAH. During all the years of treatment family has spent a lot of money and alone can not buy these pins. Let us help Bogdan – let his Wonderland live not just in fairy tales!

Name: Bogdan E. Efimchuk, born 22.02.2002

Location: Khmelnytskyi region

Diagnosis: osteogenesis imperfecta, multiple pathological fractures, deformities of the lower limbs