How Much is a Heart?

Dozens of kids with congenital heart defects are born in Odessa every year. Most of them, after having a quick glance at their moms, are taken to the OR right away. That’s where Odessan heart surgeons fight for them like true warriors. Just like warriors, they have passion and skill but they are poorly armed. If identified in time, fixing an inborn heart condition should not be a problem in XXI century. But even a wizard needs a wand to work his magic.

Dozens of kids with congenital heart defects are born in Odessa every year. Most of them, after having a quick glance at their moms, are taken to the OR right away. That’s where Odessan heart surgeons fight for them like true warriors. Just like warriors, they have passion and skill but they are poorly armed. If identified in time, fixing an inborn heart condition should not be a problem in XXI century. But even a wizard needs a wand to work his magic. 

What doctors need are the microsurgical instrument sets. This would dramatically increase a sick baby’s chance for a healthy life. Just think about it for a moment. Such equipment costs around the same as a smartphone – 39 495 UAH ($1618.34 as of 2019.09.22)

7-month-old Ruslana Kovalchuk was born through cesarean. Diagnosed with heart defect this premature girl was so weak, the doctors needed little to no time to give a pessimistic prognosis. It came crashing down on the young mom like a penal sentence: "She’s got 3-4 days. Get ready". In a situation like that parents are grasping at straws, doing everything but the kitchen sink to prevent that prognosis from coming to fruition. Marina Kovalchuk – the mom who had to go through hell – tears up as she thinks back to that time: "My little daughter was lying helpless in the intensive care room, wired to different machines. They let me see her once a day.".

On the 20th day after birth, the 900-gram (1.98416lb.) baby survived the surgery and her heart started beating with new vigor. That day became her second birthday. Now Ruslana is a year and a half. This cheerful Odessa native grows as a perfectly normal healthy little individual. She doesn’t lag behind her peers at all and absolutely loves fairy-tales, especially about Doctor Aybolit.

But this story could have had a sad ending. Odessa is lacking microsurgical equipment. The surgeons have to use second-hand hardware received from foreign hospitals as a part of humanitarian aid. "I had instruments not fit for the use of such premature babies, as I operated on Ruslana. But there were no other options. It is risky, inconvenient. I'm at a loss for words to describe the amount of pressure I was under.", Vladimir Busovsky (the doctor who did the surgery) recalls.

In this case, luck did favor the bold. But we would be so much better off not pushing it that far. It will be possible when we raise the amount necessary to fully equip the cardiovascular surgery center – the only one in South Ukraine. Little hearts need your support!