“At Last I Will Hear the Cherished Words ‘Mama’ and ‘Papa’ from My Daughters”: 4-Year-Old Twin Sisters from Chernihiv Region Receive Hearing Aids from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

Twin sisters Anastasiia and Polina were born in 2021 in Slavutych, in Chernihiv region. Soon after, the sisters were diagnosed with hearing problems: doctors identified chronic bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. Recently, Anastasiia and Polina received modern hearing aids tailored to their needs within the framework of the program “Rinat Akhmetov — To Children.  Now I Can Hear.”

“The support of the Foundation is very important for us. Especially in such a difficult time. We are very grateful. At last I will be able to hear the cherished words from my daughters: ‘mama’ and ‘papa’,” says the girls’ mother, Anna.

The woman says that the girls were born prematurely; each baby weighed just over 600 grams and spent a long time in intensive care on mechanical ventilation. That period became a great trial for the parents, because it was in those very days, in February 2022, that the full-scale war began. Chernihiv region was constantly under shelling, and whenever an air raid alert was announced, the nurses carried the babies down to the basement each time.

“Chernihiv was constantly under fire, there was a very high risk that the children could die. Then a blackout occurred. At that moment, our doctor personally transported the girls by ambulance to Kyiv, to Okhmatdyt,” recalls the twins’ father, Yurii.

Because of the difficult start to their lives, Anastasiia and Polina have disabilities and require constant medical supervision and rehabilitation. Now, thanks to the hearing aids from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the girls will be able to develop more fully, learn to speak, and interact more easily with those around them.

The modern hearing aids from the Foundation give Anastasiia and Polina’s parents hope that very soon their daughters will respond to them with their own voices.

Thanks to the program “Rinat Akhmetov — To Children,” more than 6 million children across Ukraine have already received assistance.