Give a chance at life to young patients

This story is hard to read without tears. At the same time, it brings immense faith in the power of medicine, humanity, and miracles. Solomiia, a 16-year-old from Rivne who uses a wheelchair due to a congenital spinal anomaly, suffered severely from COVID-19 in 2022. The complications led to complete stage V kidney failure. Her life became an endless cycle of hospitals and procedures — she was entirely dependent on dialysis.

Everything was made worse by a terrifying missile strike on July 8, 2024, on “Okhmatdyt,” where Solomiia was undergoing a procedure. She miraculously survived. Her doctor, who was saving children during the attack, was killed.

After that, her family moved her to Lviv — to St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital, which is part of the UNBROKEN Center. There, she waited for two years for the most important thing — a donor organ.

And the wait was worth it. On the night of Easter, April 20, a donor was found. “I used to fall asleep dreaming that one day I could simply drink water,” said Solomiia.

That day, doctors from the Transplant Center performed a highly complex surgery — and the girl received a new kidney. This was made possible thanks to the decision of the donor’s family, who had lost a loved one but chose to give others a chance at life. The heart of this same donor went to a six-year-old boy, and the liver — to an adult patient in Lviv.

Solomiia’s story is just one of hundreds. Every day, children in critical condition are brought to St. Nicholas Hospital — after shelling, injuries, car accidents, with congenital defects, severe infections, or organ failure.

Transplants, intensive care, emergency surgeries — in each of these cases, doctors need lab results immediately. Not in 3–4 hours. And not from another city. Because rescue begins with analysis.

However, today the hospital’s laboratory equipment is outdated and does not cover the full range of necessary parameters; it often requires manual processing of samples and cannot handle the growing workload.

To be able to save more children — and do it quickly, accurately, and safely — we need to purchase modern automated laboratory equipment:

•  2 XL-640 plus automatic biochemical analyzers — for urgent testing of over 30 key blood parameters (kidney, liver, electrolytes, proteins, glucose, enzymes).
•  2 Compact 15 EDI Pure water purification systems — provide a continuous supply of ultra-pure water, without which the biochemical analyzers cannot operate.
• 2 H560 hematology analyzers - for analyzing blood counts and blood cells (hemoglobin, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc.) - are necessary for any urgent hospitalization or planned surgery.

This equipment will serve all children treated at St. Nicholas Hospital, including:

• newborns in neonatal intensive care;
• children with heart, cancer, and surgical diagnoses;
• patients in the transplant and neurosurgery centers;
• children from all over Ukraine affected by the war.

Without these machines — it’s impossible.

An analyzer is not just a piece of equipment. It’s a silent assistant that, at the most critical moment, gives the doctor a precise answer: how to save a child. It’s not a luxury — it’s a vital tool, without which modern medicine cannot function.

Solomiia got a second chance. And we dream that every child who enters this hospital will have that same chance.

Join us!

Every contribution is an investment in a new life. In safe transplantation. In an accurate diagnosis. In timely help.

Together we can give doctors the tools that save lives. And give children — a future.