The project is closed! Thank you for help! Report on the project is here
Svyatogorsk is the pearl of Donetsk region with many beautiful natural attractions – mountains, a river, a forest and fresh air. However, there is a building in this beautiful town that has become an island with high concentration of chilling pain and hopelessness. This building is the premises of a former sanatorium built in Soviet times which has become a shelter for internally displaced persons. Many people who were forced to leave their homes due to war have found their home in this building. The ground floor is now mostly used by people with disabilities who move with the help of a wheelchair.
We came to Svyatogorsk to visit 43-year-old Oleg Gorokhov who needs some specific medical attention. At age 27, when Oleg still lived in his home town of Lugansk (now occupied by Russian proxies), his neck started hurting. Unfortunately, the local doctors could not make a correct diagnosis when Oleg first came to them. It was only some time later that the doctors found a cancerous tumor in his spine. Since Oleg had no money for the needed treatment, he could not stop paralysis from further development. When the war started, Oleg had to leave his home town with his mother and after many months of wandering from one place to another they finally found their shelter in this former sanatorium in Svyatogorsk.
This small room 2 by 3 meters has become their home. They cook their food on a small electric stove which their keep under the coffee table separating their two beds. The room is located on the sunny side of the building and it becomes so hot during the day that it’s almost impossible to breath. A huge number of flies inside the room makes the situation even more terrible.
Recently, Oleg started feeling worse. This means that the cancer is progressing. His fingers and legs have twisted drastically in a very short period of time. He often experiences “epileptic”-like seizures accompanied with severe bone pain. As we were talking, Oleg tried to put on T-shirt to take a picture. Suddenly, his body started shackling and twisting and his eyes were full of pain and shame. Clenching his teeth, he finally managed to bring his body under control.
We continued talking trying to ignore the annoying buzz of flies. Drops of sweat rolled over Oleg’s face as he shared: “I haven’t seen life as it is. At first I studied hard – I graduated from a college with an engineering degree. I’ve always dreamed of getting married, working and traveling. None of this has come true. The only trip I ever took was when I had to leave Lugansk due to war. I still live with my mother. She is very weak herself. She can hardly move because her legs hurt so much and it’s not surprising – she has been literally carrying me for almost 20 years now. Now that she is completely weak, I need some help more than ever. We have no money to hire someone to care for me, because we spent all of our money for renting this room and meals. Thank you so much for bringing us food and laundry powder! We will never forget this! There are not too many people around who would give you anything for free these days… “
“I pray that you would help me raise 40,000 hryvnas for the treatment. This amount would cover my initial therapy at the cancer institute in Kyiv. I would be grateful to anyone who could help me. We do not need this money for our pleasure. We need it to help with transportation and payment for the treatment! I really want to live! I want to see this world, even if it’s within my fence. I don’t want to die in my bed twisting with pain. And that’s exactly what awaits me, unless I receive the treatment”, Oleg shares.
There is nothing to add to his words. You can make a donation for Oleg’s treatment HERE (with adding a note “For Oleg”).
40,000 UAH ($1490) is not such a big amount, if each of us could transfer least 100 UAH ($5). If someone could transfer more than that, it would increase Oleg’s chances for survival. We would be grateful to you for reposting this need and for any financial contribution!
Written by Anna Chaban, CBN-Emmanuel
News from 05.09.2019
Dear friends, thank you for your help! The amount needed for Oleg’s surgery has been raised. We have helped transport Oleg to the surgery department of Severodonetsk hospital. We would like to thank “ Boomerang Dobra” Сharity Foundation for helping organize transportation of this patient.
Unfortunately, Oleg’s condition is critical, the tumor has grown from the neck into the head area up the spinal column but there are still chances for survival.
Oleg’s mother wrote a statement where she insisted on the surgery and won’t file any complaints in case her son dies during the surgery. In his difficult condition, no one can guarantee that Oleg will wake up anesthesia.
We ask your prayers for Oleg Gorokhov since his elderly mother is the only person in the world who now prays for him. Please, pray for a successful surgery and for his only dream to come true. Oleg’s only dream is to simply live!
