"How Much is a Heart?"Completed project

Surgical instruments for the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery of Odesa Regional Children’s hospital.

Dozens of babies with congenital heart defects are born in Odessa every year. Many children, having barely looked at their mother for the first time, end up on the operating table straight from the maternity hospital. And then Odesa heart surgeons, like real warriors, fight for a little life. They are skilled and determined, but poorly armed. It seems that in the 21st century, in order to save a small child who got into such trouble, it is necessary to identify the problem in time and eliminate it. But even a wizard needs a magic wand to create a miracle.
But doctors need a microsurgical instrument, and then the chance of a healthy life for sick children will increase many times.
Think about it, the price of such equipment is equal to the cost of just one or two new gadgets – 39 495 UAH
7-month-old Ruslana Kovalchuk was born as a result of cesarean section. Doctors' diagnosis is heart disease. The premature girl was so weak that the verdict was announced to the young mother in the hospital: "She will live for 3-4 days. Be prepared!” All forecasts were disappointing and desperate parents, like a drowning man grasping for a straw, agreed to anything to save their child. Maryna Kovalchuk's mother, who went through all the circles of hell, recalls the event with horror and tears in her voice: "My daughter was so small and defenseless in intensive care, connected by wires to various devices, and I was allowed to see her once a day."
On the 20th day after birth, the baby weighing 900 grams survived the operation, and the heart beat with new force. This day was her second birthday. Ruslana is now one and a half years old. The smiling Odesa girl grows up as a healthy, full-fledged child, does not lag behind her peers in development and loves to listen to fairy tales, especially about "Doctor Aibolyt".
But this story could end sadly - there is no special equipment for microsurgical manipulations in Odesa, and doctors use old-fashioned equipment received as humanitarian aid from foreign clinics. "When operating Ruslana, we used an instrument that cannot be used on such premature babies as her. But there was no other way out. It's risky, inconvenient, there are no words to convey the stress I felt," says doctor Volodymyr Buzovsky.
In this story, luck was on the side of the brave. How good it will be not to tempt her anymore. This will become possible when we collect money for the necessary equipment for the children's department of cardiovascular surgery - the only one in the south of Ukraine.
Support the little heart!