An Irish charity has flown a team of surgeons to Chernobyl to carry out life-saving operations on babies and young children who are suffering from genetic heart defects.
Adi Roche’s Chernobyl Children International said due to Covid-19-related travel restrictions this is the first time since 2019 that the surgeries could take place.
The charity, which previously invested heavily in a specialist unit and equipment, has saved the lives of 4,000 children in a disaster zone where the medical system is collapsing.
Meanwhile, the Cork-based charity said it is ‘heartbroken’ it had to cancel a Christmas visit by special needs children affected by the Chernobyl disaster to come to Ireland.
Each year between 50 and 60 children fly into Dublin and Shannon Airports to joyous scenes as they are met by host families with whom they have built up special relationships over many years.
It is the second successive year the visit by kids from Belarus has been axed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and Irish families are said to be “devastated”.
Ms Roche said: “The worst impact of the pandemic on our charity has been the human impact, that has been the most distressing.
“The families are beyond heartbroken that the Chernobyl children will not be with them again this year, as they have built up many special relationships with the children over the years.
“The arrival of the children at Dublin Airport signifies the start of Christmas for many people around Ireland, and the trip means so much to the children.
“We are just devastated that another Christmas will go by without them here with their Irish families. As well as the physical benefits, there are huge mental and emotional benefits to the annual Christmas trips.
“While the children can’t travel over, we have been working hard to ensure they will have the best possible Christmas! We have sent a container full of humanitarian aid bound for Belarus, and of course, we will be organising special Christmas gifts for the children."
The heart is one of the organs most vulnerable to the effects of radiation, and every year, thousands of children in the Ukraine and Belarus are born with life-threatening genetic heart defects.
Speaking about the return of these life-saving surgeries, Ms Roche, said: “The team of Irish funded paediatric cardiac surgeons arrived in Ukraine in a race against time to save the lives of dozens of babies and young children who have inherited the deadly legacy of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
“It is inspiring, that despite the Covid-19 pandemic, these doctors have travelled to Ukraine to deliver these life-saving surgeries.
“Without the generosity of the Irish people and the bravery of these doctors, these babies and young children would die.”
CCI said 35 years after the accident at Chernobyl they continue to lead the international humanitarian response to the fallout of the worst nuclear accident of all time.
