In early July, Evgenia Yurchenko from Chelyabinsk turned to the Rusfond charity foundation in Chelyabinsk. Her little son needs a powerful hearing aid, which the family does not have enough money for. Woman’s Day found out the details – Evgenia told her story.
“Immediately after giving birth, the doctors told me: my son does not hear. Of course, I burst into tears, my husband held on, but we followed Zhora’s every reaction, everyone hoped that he would start reacting to our voices.
At first there was a hope that the doctors were wrong, because the exact diagnosis is established after an examination at four months. The survey was carried out, the diagnosis “sensorineural hearing loss of the 4th degree” sounded like a sentence. Our baby did not walk, did not respond, did not wake up from the roar of a hammer drill behind the wall … The son was recognized as a disabled child. But we were not going to give up. The doctors advised hearing aids, and the state even paid for them: after all, it was vital for Zhora, and the devices were included in the IPR – an individual rehabilitation program.
Alas, Zhora, despite the fact that he had small amplifying devices on each ear, practically did not hear anything.
The doctors’ opinions were divided: some recommended cochlear implantation, while others advised to change the hearing aids to more powerful ones. I understood that an operation is always a risk. During surgery (cochlear implantation), a system of electrodes is built into the child’s inner ear, which, by electrical stimulation of the remaining fibers of the auditory nerve, help to perceive sound information. And there was one more “but”: in Chelyabinsk, where we live, there are no specialists who would lead the child, teach him after the “cochlear”. After all, the implant itself only makes it possible to hear, and children are taught to speak and communicate in special centers.
As a result, at a family council, we decided to buy super-powerful hearing aids for our son. But the state refused to compensate for their cost, although the devices were registered in the IPR. The devices cost more than one hundred thousand rubles, a serious amount for our family. I turned to the deputies, officials, the children’s ombudsman, I have endured cold-polite, like sour milk, full refusals. And yet, as a result, something worked, and we were paid half of the cost of the devices by the administration of the district where we live.
With the new devices, Zhora began to hear and went to a specialized group in a kindergarten. But classes with a speech therapist in kindergarten are not enough, we have to pay for private lessons. And there are results! The teachers are sure that Zhora will be able to go to a comprehensive school, provided that he has high-quality devices and regular classes with speech therapists. Recently, my son passed a mandatory medical examination, the doctors said: the devices must be changed. The service life of such sophisticated equipment is a maximum of four years, and they have expired.
The first thing I did was turn to the Chelyabinsk branch of the Federal Insurance Service. Here I was offered to buy the devices at my own expense, and then they promised to compensate … 18 rubles. of the total cost – this is from 000 rubles !!! In general, the option is absolutely unacceptable.
I applied to several charitable foundations, and only Rusfond responded. I quickly collected all the necessary documents – the list is on the Rusfond website. And on July 28th BF opened Zhora’s page on his website.
I know that many parents start to collect funds on their own in social networks for their children, but I think it’s right to contact a charitable foundation.
“Zhora has 4th degree bilateral deafness, so that the boy can hear and develop his speech skills, he needs heavy-duty hearing aids.”
Rusfond CF is one of the five largest charitable foundations in Russia. In 2015, a representative office was opened in the Chelyabinsk region. The Foundation helps seriously ill children, promotes the development of civil society and the introduction of high medical technologies.
The main principles of Rusfond’s activities are: targeted assistance, consistency and an integrated approach to organizing fundraising, accountability and transparency, constant dialogue and cooperation with partners and benefactors.
Contacting the Chelyabinsk branch of Rusfond by e-mail