Vital funds that helped save little Luka
BORN two days after Vladimir Putin’s forces invaded Ukraine, Luka has known only war during his short life.
Indeed, his mother Valeria gave birth as the hospital in Kyiv in which she was being cared for came under bombardment.
Born with pneumonia, little Luka initially clung precariously to life. But his prospects have dramatically improved thanks in part to the astonishing generosity of Mail on Sunday readers.
The Mail Force Ukraine Refugee Appeal has sent £500,000 to Unicef to fund the life-saving work of its aid workers. The charity was last week able to deliver critical medical supplies to ten hospitals and health centres caring for children in Kyiv, including that tending to Luka. The supplies included respiration monitors, which warn doctors if the breathing of children with pneumonia such as Luka, becomes dangerously low.
After spending the first two weeks of his life underground in a shelter, Luka has now been moved to Okhmadyt children’s hospital also in Kyiv. Valeria, 42, last night said the doctors have worked ‘miracles’ and that Luka, her first child, is getting stronger.
‘Luka is making positive progress,’ she said. ‘I was feeling so helpless. Being a new mother in a war time is a nightmare.’
She recalled being woken by explosions on the day of the invasion and, fearing for the safety of her unborn baby, rushed to hospital. ‘The first day of war my husband and I spent in the basement of the maternity hospital,’ she explained. Two days later she gave birth as rockets landed outside. ‘The labour was happening as the district of Kyiv where our maternity hospital is located was heavily bombarded.
‘There were loud explosions but I was trying to stay focused and strong for my baby. ’
Unicef is sending up to eight trucks into Ukraine each day filled with medical supplies and other aid.
Hailing the Mail’s readers, Murat Sahin, Unicef’s representative in Ukraine, said: ‘I am seeing on social media the amazing interest of children in the UK and also from your readers. It’s really motivating us. It’s keeping us going.’