Andriiko's special childhood during the war

Andrii was born at 32 weeks of pregnancy, with his neck wrapped twice around the umbilical cord. The baby's blue skin was frightening, but the determined efforts of the intensive care doctors literally breathed life into him. After a while, they suspected epilepsy – Andrii's emotions were accompanied by seizures and violent muscle tone. Fortunately, the diagnosis was not confirmed. However, fate was preparing new challenges for Andrii's very young life. 

At the age of 2, Andrii stopped eating on his own, walked only on tiptoe and often stumbled. The boy's beautiful, calm, unconcerned and emotionless face looked as if through his mother and sisters. He did not react to "strange" adults at all. Andrii did not seem to notice the dog that lived in his apartment, did not react to other children – as if no one was around. Six months later, after many tests and examinations, the boy was diagnosed with F 84.0 – childhood autism. 

The full-scale war completely changed the routine rhythm of Andrii's life. Loud explosions and alarms turned into an endless noise in his head, the boy would freeze, then start to convulse while rocking. All the familiar life disappeared, faces were erased, and houses nearby exploded. The rehabilitation center where the boy was studying closed, the specialists left the city, and the apartment turned into a damp basement. 

Andrii's family was not evacuated; he lived through the year in his native Kyiv. After a long search for support to which Andrii could get used to, it was the specialists of the International Center for Rehabilitation and Neurophysiology who began to revive the boy's education hour by hour. 

Andrii's mother is raising three children alone, so she really needs our help to pay for her son's remedial course. Plans have been drawn up, each correctional lesson has been prescribed – the path to recovery, return to a happy childhood and faith in Andrii's future with the help of hundreds of sincere hearts of our tireless benefactors, thanks to each of us, he will definitely return to his usual childhood again – step by step!