Step-by-step

The girl Karina who lives in Donetsk is very nice, clever and strong. Her strength lies in fighting for her health against the diagnosed ICP (infantile cerebral paralysis) for all she is worth. An integral rehabilitation phase for Karina is staged plastering of her legs, which is a painful and expensive procedure. There is no money to make it. Karina’s father had quit family yet before her birth and there is nobody to help the single mother but us!

Delivery of Karina was difficult. The baby was born with a small weight - only 1 kg 650 g. A neuropathologist diagnosed infantile cerebral paralysis and triparesis with psychomotor retardation. Having heard the terrible diagnosis, Karina’s mother was shocked. The matter is that Karina’s mother herself is an orphan and has nobody to support her; she has only her daughter. Karina’s father had quit family yet before the baby’s birth. Doctors said there was no hope of recovery and advised to take the situation as it was; they recommended to start teaching Karina to use a wheel-chair from her childhood. The mother did not want to come to terms with the situation – she began to act and fight.

It seems there is no company in Donetsk where Katerina has not turned to for help to her child. People came to know about Karina from TV programs at numerous channels and newspaper articles. This yielded results soon. People responded to mother’s grief and offered help. But even that was not sufficient.

Now Karina needs staged plastering. This obligatory procedure is very difficult from the moral and physical viewpoints. It has to be undergone to make the child stand on her heels – she will be then balanced and her legs won’t cross in the knees during walk. The girl’s legs are plastered up to her waist for a period of 30 to 45 days. Once the plaster is removed, an intensive rehabilitation starts: the small patient is FOR THE SECOND TIME taught to stand and walk but to do it this time correctly! Rehabilitation has to last at least two months but this stage is obligatory to avoid surgery in future. During the treatment in a sanatorium Karina is to undergo three procedures of staged plastering. However, even with the plaster on, the girl is to efficiently train. Physical exercises, workout – all that while lying and being in insufferable pain! All the muscles and joints of the child are sore. The girl needs to be accompanied by an adult because she has to be carried in arms and a wheelchair to take her to procedures and to do physical exercises. The rehabilitation period for the sick child is not easier than the treatment itself. The courses of plastering, treatment and rehabilitation cost very much and need to be undergone many times, whereas the mother just has no money. In spring Karina will again need treatment. It should be skipped on no account as the skills and progress which were so hard to acquire and achieve may be easily brought to nought.

Let us not leave the child alone with her disease and let us help her get on to her feet!

Name: Karina Sergienko.

City: Donetsk.

Diagnosis: infantile cerebral paralysis, triparesis with psychomotor retardation.