"There is everything here for children to recover": severely wounded brother and sister from Borodyanka undergo rehabilitation course from Rinat Akhmetov Foundation

‘Lera was shot in the leg by Russians, there were two bullets in her leg,’ says 8-year-old Nazariy about what happened to his sister, who is now 10 years old. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he himself was also injured, and the consequences of this injury are still felt to this day. Brother and sister from Borodyanka, Kyiv region, undergo physical and psychological rehabilitation from Rinat Akhmetov Foundation at a health resort in the Transcarpathian region. 

‘I am grateful to the Foundation for the opportunity for the children to relax morally and physically. They undergo procedures, walk, play, breathe, and exercise. Everything is here to help the children recover. Everyone helps them, everyone is very nice and wonderful. Thank you very much for the chance to be here,' says mother Svitlana.

Valeriia's memory is gradually erasing the details of that terrible day. Nazariy, on the other hand, clearly remembers the shots, how a wounded Ukrainian soldier put a tourniquet on his sister's leg, and the subsequent forced travels across the country. They returned to Ukraine last year.
‘Lera's leg still hurts, and my tummy prevents me from running on the field. The health resort has a swimming pool, and we play there. There is also a salt room to keep us from getting sick. And aromatherapy, where you have to sit quietly,’ says Nazariy.

The active boy dreams of recovering and becoming a football player and spending all his free time on the field. His sister likes to draw and dreams of learning to play the guitar.

‘The children have undergone rehabilitation and recovery, and a psychologist is working with them. Now their physical and psychological condition has improved,' says Nataliia Vartsaba, a doctor at the health resort.

As part of Rinat Akhmetov to Children. Rehabilitation of Injured Children programme, the Foundation provides assistance to children affected by hostile shelling of residential areas: treatment, rehabilitation, psychological help, etc.

If you or someone you know needs help, write to the Foundation's messenger http://m.me/AkhmetovFDU or call the toll-free hotline 0 800 509 001 (the line is open from Monday to Friday).