Ukrainian Community Press Releases
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News
from and about Ukraine & Ukrainians
Ukrainian Community Press Releases |
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| l-r: P.O. Michael Hanson, Mrs. Romanenko (Anton's mother), Anton, P.O. Stephen Clifford |
A reception of thanks and celebration was held at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the United Nations on Monday, June 28, 1999 in honor of a very special young citizen of Ukraine. Anton Kozhedub, a 3-year old heart patient, successfully underwent a complicated surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York, and Ukrainian Ambassador Volodymyr Yel’chenko wished to express his appreciation to all individuals involved in helping this young Ukrainian boy.
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According to Dr. Eugene Holuka, who was instrumental in arranging the surgery, Anton was born with a completely open heart. His atrium and ventricle were communicating with each other and the left side of the heart was virtually non-existent -- a condition known as hypo-plastic left heart syndrome. Never having fully developed, Anton’s superior vena cava was not attached to the heart. The surgery involved attaching the superior vena cava to the pulmonary artery. The opening in the heart remained unrepaired during the surgery; two years from now, Anton must return for a follow-up procedure to be performed at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital. The inferior vena cava will be attached to the pulmonary artery at that time so that the whole heart will be circulating only oxygenated blood as opposed to deoxygenated blood.
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| l-r: Larissa Van Deusen with Anton |
Given the complexities of this particular surgery, Anton’s chances of success were at 95% if performed here in the United States, but only about 5% if done in Ukraine. Anton’s prognosis today is excellent, according to Dr. Holuka. "While he may not necessarily become a super-athlete, there is no reason why Anton could not pursue a completely normal lifestyle," he said.
Anton’s mother, Mrs. Innesa Romanenko, was effusive with her expressions of gratitude for the big helping hand she and her son had received. "We were extremely fortunate to have been presented with this opportunity to come to America", said Mrs. Romanenko. "We had been told that the surgery was extremely complex, so when the call came to prepare for this trip, we quickly gathered our things and departed as soon as the papers were straightened out."
Mrs. Romanenko spoke of the great concerns they had about the serious risks involved in the type of complicated procedure as her son required. But "here we are, just 5 days later, and you can see that it [the surgery] was beautifully successful," she said with a wide smile. It isn’t over yet, however, and they are prepared to return for the follow-up surgery in two years from now. The funding for the next operation has already been promised to the family by Mr. Bill Fugazy, Chairman of the Children of the World Foundation.
Mrs. Romanenko was also anxious to express her deep gratitude to everyone who has so generously provided for their trip and the surgery. "First of all it is important to give my thanks to Dr. Eugene Holuka who was most helpful in organizing this project. Larissa Van Deusen, who has been especially kind to my son. Bill Fugazy and Richard Grace of the foundation for having provided the means for this very expensive operation which I would never have been able to pay for myself. These people will all be very close to our hearts forever," said Mrs. Romanenko. Because she wished to be sure and thank everyone involved, we obtained the following list of individuals, all of whom contributed to the effort:
Dr. Eugene Holuka, University Physicians Group
Dr. Vincent Calamia, University Physicians Group
Dr. Mark Galantowicz, Director
Dr. Michael Berman, Executive V.P., NY Presbyterian Hospital
Dr. Peter Altman, Director, Babies' and Children's Hospital
Ms. Cynthia Sparer, Exec. Vice President, Babies' and Children’s Hospital
Dr. Eric Rose
Dr. Ihor Sawzuk
Ms. Bernadette Smith, RN
Dr. Salvatore Curnella, Director, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Hon. Vincent Delorio, Director, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Mrs. Vicki Fox, Director, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Mr. Jay Fox, Director, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Mr. William D. Fugazy, Chairman, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Mr. Richard Grace, Secretary, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Mrs. Barbara Grace
Lewis Reich, Esq., Counsel, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Ms. Larissa Van Duzen, Program Director, Forum's Children of the World Foundation
Ms. Barbara Mansfield Forum Club
Hon. Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of the City of New York
Commissioner Howard Safir, New York City Police Department
Commissioner Thomas Von Essen, NYC Fire Department
Police Officer Stephen Clifford, Emergency Service Squad Nine, NYPD
Sergeant Peter Curley, Emergency Service Unit, NYPD
Segreant John Galasso, NYPD
Police Officer Michael Hanson, Emergency Service Squad One, NYPD
Police Officer Martin Kann, Emergency Service Squad Eight, NYPD
Police Officer John McCarthy Emergency Service Squad One, NYPD
Assistant Chief William A. Morange, Assist. Chief, C.O. Special Operations Division, NYPD
Police Officer Michael Reynolds Emergency Service Squad Nine, NYPD
Inspector Raymond J. McDermott, C.O. Emergency Service Unit, NYPD
Mr. Sam Alvarez
Mrs. Virginia Alvarez
Mr. David Hunt
Mr. Steve Mangione
Adele Dotman, Fitzpatrick Hotel Group
Mr. John Fitzpatrick, CEO-NA, Fitzpatrick Hotel Group
Debbie Waaben,, Fitzpatrick Hotel Group
Ms. Betya Ebina, Interpreter
Ms. Anabella Hilburn, Interpreter
Mr. Andrew Mankin, Interpreter
Ms. Viane Vincent
Mrs. Peter Walsh
Hon. Volodymyr Yel’chenko and the staff of the Mission of Ukraine and the Consulate of Ukraine
Dr. Holuka has been working to bring medical aid to Ukraine in a variety of forms for the past several years. He is currently working with the Children of the World Foundation, run by Bill Fugazy, bringing children from all over the world who are in need of medical attention. Surgery in Ukraine is at a fairly high standard, so only the most problematic cases requiring complicated post-operative care are brought to the United States. Dr. Holuka said that they had contacted Ukraine’s President Kuchma about the availability of two openings in the foundation’s program, and the President replied to them within 24 hours about Anton’s predicament. Anton was in a hospital in Kyiv at the time, and the team worked quickly to organize his transfer to the U.S. for the necessary surgery. The Foundation already has plans in place to bring other children from Romania, Russia, Korea, and soon another youngster from Ukraine. No particular country is targeted by this effort – any child from any part of the world that needs the help can qualify for humanitarian aid.
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| l-r: J. Fox, Dr. Holuka, Amb. Yelchenko, Comm. Safir, W. Fugazy |
According to Larissa Van Deusen, Program Director for the Children of the World Foundation, the program was established about 8 months ago when they first brought in two children from the Dominican Republic. It was founded by the Forum club, a philanthropic business networking organization headed by Bill Fugazy. "We learned how rewarding an experience it was to alter the life paths of the first two children and that gave rise to the foundation as a means to help other children from all over the world," said Ms. Van Duzen. Most of the funding for the projects is provided by various forms of donations. Hospitals and surgeons donate their services, and National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations provides seed money for all other expenses such as travel and accommodations and medicines.
Anton rebounded from the surgery in a matter of days. While this reception was taking place just 5 days after the surgery, Anton’s attention was fully occupied by a police car toy with a loud siren that delighted him with every noisy blare. Although his legs were still a bit weak and atrophied, he was unstoppable crawling around the floor chasing after his new toy. He wasn’t speaking much yet, communicating mostly with grunts, eye movement and hand gestures because most of his lung capacity was used up just for breathing.
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| l-r: Barbara Grace, Richard Grace | |
New York City’s Police Commissioner Howard Safir also attended the reception. The NYC police and fire departments were on hand and prepared with life-saving equipment in the event of an emergency while transferring the ailing Anton from the plane to the hospital. Police Officers Michael Hanson and Stephen Clifford of NYPD-ESU (Emergency Services Unit) met the aircraft that brought Anton to these shores, and were there to take Anton off the plane when it landed. According to Officer Clifford, Anton’s color was blue, he was agitated and short of breath, pale and obviously in need of oxygen. "We provided the oxygen and improved his color tanks, and then brought him directly to Manhattan for the surgery," said Clifford. And how do the two officers feel now that Anton’s surgery was successful? P.O. Hanson replied, "we realize that we played just a small part among a large group of people who helped this little boy, and we’re very thankful today to see that his color is improved greatly, his activity level is up, and he’s acting like a normal and healthy little boy."
Anton returned to his native Ukraine last Friday, less than two weeks after arriving in New York.
A. Krill, BRAMA
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