But when freelance journalist Ruchi Kumar pitched the idea of following up on media coverage of a heart transplant for a 12-year-old girl, whose heart had been weakened by illness, we were interested.
Here’s a look at that extraordinary night — and how the girl with the transplant is now faring.
Todurov had a patient — Kira Skliarova, a 12-year-old girl from Luhansk region of Ukraine — who needed a new heart urgently.
As her condition worsened, especially in the last six months, “her doctor told us, ‘It’s time to get her on a waiting list for a new heart,'” Skliarova said.
The first three days after the transplant were sensitive, her mother said, as her body adjusted to the new heart.
The stories in our “following up” series typically revisit earlier Goats and Soda articles. However, we were intrigued when Ruchi Kumar, a freelance journalist, suggested that we follow up on the media coverage of a 12-year-old girl’s heart transplant due to illness-related heart weakness. To retrieve a heart donated by the mother of a 4-year-old who passed away from brain injuries sustained in an accident, doctors drove through one of the bloodiest Russian attacks on Kyiv. Take a look at that incredible evening and the transplanted girl’s current condition.
The director of the Kyiv Heart Institute, Dr. Borys Todurov, got a call late on July 9 from a colleague at the Ohmatdyt Hospital on the other side of the city. Her parents had consented to donate her organs after a 4-year-old girl had died from brain damage sustained in an accident earlier that evening.
Todurov treated Kira Skliarova, a 12-year-old girl from the Ukrainian region of Luhansk, who was in urgent need of a new heart. She had suffered from severe heart weakness as a child. He told NPR, “She needed a transplant, but we just put a mechanical heart in her one day before she was placed on the waiting list for a long time.”.
To finish the surgery, he had to put his own life in danger.
The Heart Institute was under one of the most intense Russian attacks since the full-scale conflict began in 2022, and the donor’s body was situated roughly ten miles away.
“The air raid alert was going off, and there were Russian drones and missiles everywhere,” he stated. “But we seized the opportunity to save a life. “.”.
Their vehicle is seen avoiding explosions in a video that Todurov created while Ukrainian air defenses repelled Russian drones. He remarked, “We saw a lot of drones and buildings that they targeted that were on fire on our way.”.
A girl whose heart is broken.
Kira’s family relocated to Kyiv as internally displaced refugees after being uprooted during the Russian invasion of their area in 2014. The girl had a serious case of pneumonia in 2019, which ultimately resulted in heart inflammation.
Alyona Skliarova, her mother, told NPR over the phone that she was diagnosed with a condition called post-myocarditis. For the next six years, Kira was constantly in and out of hospitals while undergoing a strict drug treatment program.
“Her doctor told us, ‘It’s time to get her on a waiting list for a new heart,'” claimed Skliarova, as her condition deteriorated, particularly in the past six months.
On July 8, the girl’s medical team determined that she was in imminent danger of dying, so they performed surgery to implant an artificial heart, a device that would help her body pump blood. “I saw the blood flowing when I arrived at her [post-surgery], and she was lying with that mechanism with the entire thing outside. According to her mother, it appeared to be a suitcase, similar to the ones we bring to the train station.
“I was genuinely astounded.”. “That picture was not meant for the weak of heart,” she said. “How long could someone live with this suitcase device if there isn’t a donor heart.”. “,”.
Kira had just had surgery and was in the intensive care unit when the July 9 attacks started. Because of the severe bombing, her mother had to go to a shelter while she was in the hospital. Kira’s father, her spouse, passed away from COVID-19 in 2021.
under fire for surgery.
Todurov acted without hesitation upon hearing about the donor heart.
The window of opportunity to remove the organ and then transplant it was short.
In the midst of the bombing, he drove to the Ohmatdyt Children’s Hospital with his team, which included a scrub nurse, a surgeon, and an anesthesiologist. Despite the ground trembling from the explosions, they started the procedure.
“We could feel the vibrations of the explosion during the extraction, in addition to hearing the sounds of drones and missiles,” he stated. Since the heart would only be viable outside the body for a few hours after it was obtained, “we decided to transport it right away even though we knew it was extremely dangerous.”.
Even as the building shook from the explosions outside, Todurov’s team at their own hospital wasted no time getting ready for the heart transplant.
They continued to advance despite the attacks becoming more intense. Precision in surgery requires focus and attention, and we are performing this while there are explosions all around us. “They are killing civilians around us while we are trying to save lives,” Todurov stated.
“A chance at a fresh start.”.
According to her mother, “I was praying to all the gods, Kira, Kira, Kira, even though it was a very serious attack that night.”. We managed to make it through the night, and I went to visit Kira after the air raid alerts stopped. The artificial heart device was no longer required to be attached to her daughter. When she said, “I felt a relief,”.
“The doctors we have are divine beings on earth. They have my sincere gratitude.
The doctors are hopeful, but Kira still has a long way to go. Todurov stated, “Kira now has a chance for a new, full life, but treatment and rehabilitation are ahead.”. “.
Her mother said that as her body adapted to the new heart, the first three days following the transplant were delicate. She initially lost a little weight. Not enough blood reached her organs. and when she ate, she was throwing up. “.
After three days, Kira’s health started to get better as her body adapted to her new heart.
On the right side of her arm, leg, and eye, she experiences spasticity, which is characterized by stiffened muscles. However, her mother stated that she is collaborating with a rehabilitation therapist.
moment of bittersweetness.
For Kira’s mother, the mother of the 4-year-old girl whose organs saved two other lives that fateful night, Kira’s transplant has been a tender moment.
Aloyna Skliarova stated that the donor’s mother made a visit to Kira and heard her daughter’s heart beating in Kira’s chest. On the one hand, that is tragic for [her]. Conversely, it turned into a life-changing opportunity. She continued appreciatively: “I greatly admire her and am extremely appreciative of her choice. My child had a chance to live because of her. “.
With this new lease on life, mother and daughter are determined to make the most of it. We should go on more park walks and catch up on everything, I hope. “We haven’t seen many things in Kyiv yet, as we have been in hospitals or lying at home sick for the past six years,” Skliarova stated.
A trip to the Carpathian Mountains is one dream. “I visited there once, and I would like Kira to see this beauty, take a stroll, and climb [the mount] Khomyak,” she remarked. “Our goal is to survive. simply to relish life while wearing this new heart. Although God alone knows what the future holds, there is a will to live. “.
Ruchi Kumar is a journalist who covers politics, development, culture, and conflict in Afghanistan and India. She can be found on X at @RuchiKumar.
