Maksym from Dnipro dreams of walking

Maksym Kononir from Dnipro has spasticity in his legs and arms, which makes it impossible for him to stand and walk. But his parents have high hopes for the Park's method surgery, which will be performed by Lviv specialists at the International Center for Neurosurgery as soon as we raise the necessary amount.

Olena's pregnancy proceeded smoothly, but suddenly at 30 weeks her blood pressure increased and her kidneys began to fail. Doctors urgently performed a caesarean section, and Maxym was born weighing only 1,300 grams. The baby spent the first 5 days in intensive care under a ventilator, and then 2.5 months in the neonatal pathology department.

The parents turned to several neurologists with complaints about their son’s developmental delay, but they unanimously assured that he would definitely catch up with his peers later. Once again changing doctors, mom and dad heard a shocking diagnosis: their one and a half year old son had cerebral palsy.

Maxym visited all specialized clinics in Ukraine, but to no avail. None of the specialists were able to overcome spasticity – painful tension in the muscles of the limbs, which intensifies with physical activity and interferes with the control of the arms and legs. The boy's intelligence is completely preserved. He is a good student in the 4th grade of special school 90. Max’s favorite subject is computer science. Therefore, it is easy to guess that his hobby is everything related to gadgets.

Maxym is a gentle, calm child. He loves his parents and his little sister Masha, who is only one year old. Max moves around the house crawling on his stomach. He can climb onto a special chair to exercise or feed itself.

Maxym was consulted by a neurosurgeon from the International Center for Neurosurgery in Kyiv and recommended selective dorsal rhizotomy using the Park method, when the surgeon divides the roots of the sensory nerves into individual fibers going to the muscles of the limbs. Then the spasticity will disappear forever and the boy will be able to walk. Max’s classmate underwent a similar operation and is already walking.

We are launching a fundraising campaign to pay for the surgery to eliminate spasticity. We will help to realize Maksym's main dream: to walk on his own!