Quality of life matters!
A six-year-old Sasha Stashenko from Zvezdny, a small town in
Volgograd region of Russia, needs a wheelchair. Born a healthy girl, Sasha contracted viral meningoencephalitis when she was two. The disease left
Sasha nearly blind and with multiple serious complications including epilepsy, spastic cerebral palsy and severe developmental delay. Sasha’s Mom
is asking us for help in purchasing a specialized wheelchair for her daughter that will make it much easier for her not only to take her daughter
to Moscow for assessment and treatment, but also will make is easier for the family to get out of the house on a daily basis.
One such wheelchair that would work very well for Sasha is produced in Poland and costs $1300 including shipping. For children like Sasha and their
families, the quality of life is the most important thing, and having a suitable wheelchair is a big part of it. Please, help us raise the funds necessary
to purchase it!
Please, read what Sasha’s Mom wrote us. Also, take a look at the stroller the family is using instead of a wheelchair, and
compare it to a Racer wheelchair we would like to purchase for Sasha.
"We were very happy beyond measure when our twins Saveliy and Alexandra (Sasha) were born on April 28, 2005. Our elder daughter Valilisa was
ten years old at that time. Before they turned two, the twins were active and happy, and had no health problems aside of occasional sniffles.
Alexandra became ill on July 19, 2007. First, we thought she had a cold but in the evening she started to have seizures.
We took her to the hospital in a nearby town Volzhsy, and she was immediately admitted to the intensive care unit. According to the doctors,
she slipped into a coma right away and was in a coma for forty days. Those were the scariest days for us, as I was only allowed to see my
daughter twice in this whole time and doctors didn’t have any answers for us. Our only consolation was that she kept breathing on her own.
Sasha was fighting for her life.
In August, Sasha was transferred to neurology department of Volgograd Regional Clinical Children’s Hospital with diagnoses
of viral encephalitis, spastic teraparesis, delay of psychomotor development, symptomatic epilepsy, atrophy of both optic nerves, as well several
other accompanying conditions. Now Sasha is taking anticonvulsants. Doctors told us there was no hope for Sasha's rehabilitation but I refused
to let them say things like this.
Since that time, Sasha was able to move her right leg, and a year ago she started to move her left leg as well.
She is also making unconscious movements with her arms. While she can’t hold a toys herself, occasionally we tie one to hr hand to help her to improve her motor skills. As her eyesight
is very poor but occasionally she is able to follow objects with her gaze. We do daily exercises to improve her strength but she doesn’t enjoy them much.
Sasha can only sit with support. She can hear very well, and tries to turn her head when we call her. She can’t talk but recently she started making
sounds to get our attention. Also, after three years she finally started to swallow food better and even tries to chew is.
She enjoys it very much when her brother Savely and other family members talk to her.
We all love her very much. The scariest thing is that I haven’t seen her smile in already four years.
There is a rehabilitation center in Volzhsky, a town nearby, which we were able to visit twice. There, specialists worked with Sasha using a
simplified rehabilitation program. It was very benefitial for Sasha's development, and we would really like to have an opportunity to visit the center
at least twice a year. Recently, we have learnt about a Clinical Research Center for children with craniofacial malformations and congenital nervous
system disorders located in Moscow. There are no such centers in our region, and we would really like to take Sasha to that facility for detailed tests
recommendations for further treatment. We believe we will be able to work on Sasha's rehabilitation much more effectively after this visit.
However, we have no suitable wheelchair for our child. Sasha weighs 25 kg, and her height is 120 cm. We have requested help from a government social
insurance program but they could only offer an ordinary wheelchair that is not appropriate for a child with serious disabilities: it has no five-point
harness, abductor, headrest, or reclining back. However, we have found a suitable wheelchair for Sasha. It is called Racer, and it is available in Poland for $1300
which includes shipping to Moscow.
I am a school teacher. Our only sources of income are my salary and two disability pensions: my husband's (he has rheumatoid polyarthritis and he cannot work)
and my Sasha's. We also support our elder daughter Vasilisa who is a student at a vocational school. I hope that kind people will help us raise the sum
required to buy the wheelchair and visit Moscow for treatment.
Thank you.
With respect and gratitude,
Natalia Stashenko, Sasha's mother.”
The Help Journal purchased a wheelchair for Sasha Stashenko, and in May the family has already received it. We would like to thank all of our donors for their generous contributions. This new wheelchair will tremendously improve the quality of life for Sasha and her family, and will make it easier for Sasha’s Mom to take her daughter that to a clinic in Moscow for assessment and treatment.