Khrystyna, from our Ternopil site in Ukraine, was born with cerebral palsy. Before sponsorship, her parents did everything to cover the therapies required to improve Khrystyna’s mobility.
Khrystyna lives with her father, Vasyl, and her mother, Oksana, who takes care of her daughter full-time. They all live in a tiny rented one-bedroom apartment.
Khrystyna’s condition impeded her early physical development but improved when she started receiving intensive physiotherapy at the age of two. The specialists treated her with massages, manual therapies, and exercises to improve and expand little Khrystyna’s mobility. She went from being unable to sit up on her own to crawling in just a few years. To afford this treatment, Vasyl moved to Poland to find higher-paying work. He and Oksana were also grateful that a Chalice sponsor began supporting her when she was nine years old.
When she was 11, she underwent surgeries to improve her muscle tension and enabled her to walk more comfortably. She also attended regular courses in rehabilitation therapies, which were covered by the state until she was 18. Thanks to the therapies, she has made great progress and can sit up in her wheelchair, dress herself, and exercise. Khrystyna loves to draw, write, and sing.
Unfortunately, those therapies are no longer free since she turned 18, which resulted in her needing to discontinue them. Now 20 years old, and after two years without professional therapy, Khrystyna was having pain in her back and limbs. She needed another course of physiotherapy, but the cost was to high. Her parents struggled to afford the rent, utility bills, and basic nutrition for the family – they could not afford the treatment that their daughter needed.
The Ternopil sponsor site reached out to Chalice to help Khrystyna take another course at her clinic. The clinic is well known to be the best for young people with cerebral palsy.
Thanks to an outpouring of support from Chalice donors, Khrystyna was able to go for two weeks at the clinic.
Oksana lists off the therapies her daughter received, including, “electrotherapy for her muscles, laser therapy, ultrasound, massage, and physical therapy.” Oksana also describes the specialized exercise equipment Khrystyna got to use. “Khrystyna started getting up on her own. It is inspiring to her to feel her legs and be able to move. It brings us so much joy.”
Year after year, Oksana and Vasyl can see their daughter’s physical and emotional health improve, thanks in large part to these therapies.
“We owe a lot of this success to our sponsors and to you, dear donor,” Oksana writes. “Today, our daughter is certain that everything will be well and there is always a smile on her face.”
“Thank you for making our daughter happy. May God watch over you and bless you.”
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