A chance for a happy childhood!

Every new skill Denys gains is a small miracle, built on faith, love, and daily hard work. Despite his serious diagnoses, the 11-year-old boy from Pidhorodne moves forward step by step, achieving new results and bringing joy to his loved ones with every victory.

Denys was born with a rare brain malformation – lissencephaly. This congenital condition has affected the functioning of his entire body: he has spastic tetraparesis with persistent motor impairments and epilepsy.

For the first five minutes of his life, the baby was not breathing and was immediately taken to the intensive care unit. Doctors were cautious about making any predictions regarding his future development.

Denys’s parents gave up their parental rights, and the responsibility for him was taken on by his loving grandmother Olena and grandfather Serhii. His grandmother became his legal guardian and devoted herself to raising her grandson, while his grandfather provides for the family.

For two and a half years, Olena and Serhii searched for the cause of their grandson’s developmental delays. Only an MRI scan finally revealed the brain pathology. Every day, his grandmother works with Denys – massages, physical exercises, and therapeutic activities. He also regularly undergoes rehabilitation at the St. John's Center.

Thanks to dedicated care and constant therapy, Denys has learned to hold his head up, sit, roll over, kneel, independently sit in a lotus position, and is now trying to learn how to crawl.

Denys partially understands spoken language. He feels emotions deeply, smiles at his loved ones, recognizes and happily greets his therapists. He especially loves musical toys and cartoons.

At the age of three, Denys began having epileptic seizures that did not respond to medication. In April 2022, he underwent a complete corpus callosotomy – a neurosurgical procedure in which the corpus callosum was severed.

Later, the seizures returned. In November 2023, Denys received a vagus nerve stimulator, which reduced the frequency and intensity of the seizures. He continues to take anti-seizure medications, and after a recent adjustment of the stimulator, his condition has stabilized.

This year, Denys started first grade. His grandmother takes him to school, where a teacher works with him individually under an inclusive education program. Denys loves learning.

In March, he will continue rehabilitation at the St. John's Center to work on crawling skills, hand motor development, and strengthening his muscles. For Denys, rehabilitation is an important step toward mastering new abilities. Please support him so that these skills continue to grow!