Newborn saved by ‘miracle’ surgery in Ukraine funded by Irish Chernobyl charity
A newborn baby who faced almost certain death has been christened a ‘Christmas angel’ after undergoing life-saving cardiac surgery funded by an Irish charity in war-torn Ukraine.
Baby Nestor was diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, while still in his mother’s womb — a very serious heart condition which meant the left side of his heart did not develop, and which without surgery meant that he would not have lived beyond a few days.
The local Ukrainian medical team did not have the expertise or equipment to treat him and so his parents believed they would have to plan his funeral.
However, Chernobyl Children International (CCI) had dispatched a specialised cardiac surgical team to Ukraine in the hopes of saving the lives of children and babies with radiation related heart-defects linked to the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Their time in country overlapped with Nestor’s birth on November 26.
The CCI-funded surgeons arrived just in time to perform the complex surgery on Nestor in St Nicholas Pediatric Hospital in Lviv in western Ukraine, the only city in Ukraine left with the specialist equipment, facilities, and staff required for complex paediatric surgery.
The procedure involved stopping his heart and then putting him on bypass machine while they re-routed the flow of his heart.
Nestor has a long road of recovery ahead of him, and faces other procedures, but it’s hoped that he has a 90% chance of reaching his fifth birthday and possibly avoiding the need for a heart transplant too.
As the country prepares for its third Christmas with war, Nestor’s story has been described locally as a ‘miracle’, with medics nicknaming him a ‘Christmas Angel’.
CCI’s voluntary CEO, Adi Roche, praised the surgical team who will continue operating until Christmas Eve, and the people of Ireland who funded Nestor’s life-saving surgery.
“The surgeons and nurses have the expertise and knowledge, but without the funding behind this trip, Nestor would have most certainly died before the end of the week… it’s a Christmas miracle,” she said.
“He was on death’s door. Nestor owes his life to the kindness and generosity of the Irish people who funded this mission.
“No other nation in the world has stood by and championed those whose lives have been destroyed by Chernobyl as much as Ireland has and this recent cardiac mission is another reflection of Irish compassion.”
Bill Novick, the lead surgeon on the cardiac mission, said he felt the medical team had to return to Ukraine despite the war.
“Explosions can be heard in the distance, and you can’t tell how close it is,” he said. “We have experienced frequent bombardment but are not distracted by it.
“We are acutely aware of the challenges and dangers of operating in a war-torn country. However, the urgency of the children’s failing hearts demands immediate action.
“These children cannot wait, and we are determined to save as many lives as possible.”
This is the fourth mission that Cork-based CCI has funded since the beginning of the year. The charity is hoping to raise enough funds to sustain the cardiac programme in Ukraine into 2025.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the country’s healthcare system has faced immense challenges, with hospitals struggling to cope with the influx of wounded, the mass exodus of qualified medical personnel and the deliberate targeting of medical facilities.
Many children born with congenital heart defects, such as the fatal Chernobyl Heart, have been unable to receive necessary surgical interventions, leading to a rising number of preventable deaths.