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‘From Russia with Love’
Canton community steps up to help ailing 9-year-old girl from
Russia
By Jeffrey
Pickette
Citizen Staff
Like many
children from parts of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, Yulia
Nosenko, a 9-year-old girl from Klintsy, Russia, suffers from
health problems associated with the aftermath of the Chernobyl
nuclear disaster.
The nuclear
accident occurred in Ukraine in April of 1986 — long before
Yulia was born — but the residents of this impoverished region
of the world still deal with long-term contamination of the air,
land and water.
Yulia, who is
in need of life-saving open-heart surgery, has been experiencing
dizzy spells and shortness of breath as of late.
But, thanks in
large part to the philanthropic efforts of Canton resident Kasey
King, Yulia will be able to receive the heart surgery she so
desperately needs. In just about four months, King has raised
upwards of $58,000 to help pay for Yulia’s costly procedure.
An exact date
for Yulia’s surgery has not been determined, but the procedure
will be performed at the Floating Hospital for Children at the
Tufts Medical Center in Boston. A fundraiser will be held next
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the St. John’s Parish Center
to help cover travel expenses for Yulia and her mother to make
the trip from Russia to the United States for Yulia’s surgery.
Billed as a “breakfast with the characters,” Barney, Bob the
Builder, Dora the Explorer, Spiderman and Dorothy, the Scarecrow
and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz are expected to make an
appearance. To attend, donations are $7 per person and $25 per
family.
Yulia first
came to America in the summer of 2008 when she was 7 years old
as part of a summer program run by the Boston-based Chernobyl
Children Project USA.
The project,
headed by its president and Canton resident Patty Doyle, was
founded in 1995 and seeks to “help the people of the Chernobyl
area by means of aid, medical assistance, education and caring,”
according to its website.
Since 1995,
groups of children have been brought over to this country for
month-long stays, where they get to experience American culture
and receive much-needed medical examinations. Those that are in
need of critical surgery are brought back to the U.S. at a later
date, as is the case with Yulia. During their month in America,
the children stay with a host family in the Boston area.
Over the
years, many of the host families have come from Canton. King’s
parents, Butch (a Canton firefighter) and Mary Anne, hosted
Yulia and a boy named Denis two summers ago. This is when Kasey
and Yulia first met.
“During that
time she became a little sister to me,” Kasey King said.
When Yulia
returns to Massachusetts for her surgery she will stay with the
King family again.
Yulia is
described as a strong-willed and lively 9 year old, who at the
same time is “very loving,” “delightful” and “playful.” Mary
Anne King noted Yulia’s love for hot dogs, ice cream and
swimming.
“It made me
really grateful for everything I had and it just made me feel
like I wanted to do everything possible to get help for her,”
Kasey King said of her experience hosting Yulia.
Kasey, who was
going into her senior year of high school at Mount Alvernia High
School in Newton when she first met Yulia, is now a sophomore at
the University of Wisconsin -Whitewater. She put together a
video telling Yulia’s story this past July and started sending
it out to various companies looking for donations in August. She
said she was surprised with how quickly the money has been
raised.
Many of the
donations have come from businesses, but Kasey said there have
been plenty of examples of small donations making a difference.
Kasey showed
the video she made to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at
UW-Whitewater and a few members of the football team present at
the meeting took notice. So, at the football team’s November 7
home game, Yulia’s picture was displayed on the scoreboard and
Kasey stood outside the game with a donation box, collecting
$250 in donations by the end of the game.
“[Butch and I]
are extremely proud of Kasey’s efforts in raising the money,”
Mary Anne King wrote in an e-mail to the
Citizen. “She
showed so much maturity, determination, and compassion for Yulia
and all the children of Chernobyl throughout her efforts.”
Doyle said the
Braintree-based Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation will cover the
balance of Yulia’s $80,000 surgery.
Kasey was part
of a group that traveled with Doyle to Klintsy, Russia last
April to renovate part of the Klintsy City United Children’s
Hospital. Kasey actually stayed with Yulia’s family while there.
The group will return this upcoming April to continue its
renovation of the hospital.
Going forward,
one of the major goals of the Chernobyl Children Project will be
to continue to improve healthcare in the Chernobyl region. In
addition to the renovation of the children’s hospital, Russian
doctors have been educated by American physicians and the
project has spent money on new medical equipment for hospitals
over there.
Because of
these improvements, Doyle said these children will no longer
need to travel to America for medical examinations and instead
will be able to have basic care provided for them at home.
Children will come to this country and will stay with a host
family on a case-by-case basis, like when they are in need of
major surgery.
“Over the
years, there have been really long-lasting friendships forged
between the host families and the children they’ve hosted,”
Doyle said. “I think for me, it has been very gratifying to
change the lives of so many children.”
“Being a host
family is a wonderful, rewarding experience. The children become
like family members during the four-week stay,” Mary Anne King
added in an e-mail. “To see their medical issues addressed and
resolved is such a great feeling of accomplishment for the host
family.”
For more information on
next Saturday’s fundraiser, call Lorraine Wright at
781-828-5130. For more information on the Chernobyl Children
Project, visit www.ccpusa.org.
November 19, 2009
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