Bodnaruk Evelina

6-year-old Evelinka needs urgent help. Until the age of six everyone considered the girl perfectly healthy; she was dancing until a pediatrician heard noises in her heart. After an examination, the child was found to have a congenital heart defect – an open arterial duct that must be closed urgently. Time is short, and doctors advise doing it within a month. The parents are reaching out to all caring people, asking for help to raise the necessary amount for an intracardiac implant, because they cannot manage it on their own in such a brief period.

Letter from a mother: “I am the mother of a wonderful girl, Bodnaruk Evelina, and I am reaching out for help to all caring people: please help raise funds for an occluder. When we went to the pediatrician for an examination because of rashes on the body, the doctor advised us to have an ultrasound because she heard a murmur. Not suspecting anything, we went for an echocardiography, and there we were shocked with the diagnosis: congenital heart defect – a medium‑size open arterial duct.”

With this, we were referred to Kyiv to the M. M. Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, where the diagnosis was confirmed. The doctor explained that the ductus will not close on its own and that surgery with an internal implant (occluder) needs to be performed as soon as possible. Since the girl is growing, the defect also enlarges, and later it will lead to irreversible changes in the heart. The operation they plan for us is free, but the occluder needed for Evelynka costs 74 900 UAH. It is hard for the family to raise the full amount because it is a huge sum for us. Together we have collected about 25 000 UAH.

Evelinka is a very cheerful and active girl, now she is in the first grade. Since the age of three she has been doing dance, and she has already received many awards. However, now, unfortunately, she had to give up her favorite activity so as not to strain her little heart. My husband and I work informally, because finding an official job in the village is impossible, and we receive a small salary – for the two of us about 6 000 UAH per month, but more than half of it goes to living expenses. We do not have our own housing, we live with our parents. We cannot set aside much, and the operation needs to be done as soon as possible, because each day irreversible processes can occur in the heart, and treatment will become much more complicated.

Please help save this little heart before the defect fully harms him.

With great respect and hope

Bodnaruk Olha and our whole family!

Full name: Bodnaruk Evelina Yaroslavivna, 29.10.2010

City: v. Chernihiv, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast

Diagnosis: congenital heart defect – patent arterial duct

All details and documentation are here.