VIDEO: Canton woman raises money for 9-year-old Chernobyl victim

Yulia Nosenko wasn’t even born when reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl exploded in 1986, but she’s still a victim of the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Yulia was born in Russia, near the Ukraine border, with a bad heart. Without an expensive open-heart operation, she was not expected to live to her teen years.

But with the help of 20-year-old Canton resident Kasey King, Yulia has hope.

King led a fundraising drive so Yulia, now 9 years old, could have heart surgery, which has been scheduled for Jan. 26.

Like children born after the nuclear catastrophe 23 years ago in the then-Ukrainian province of the former Soviet Union, Yulia was born with birth defects related to the explosion that caused contamination in areas of Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Doctors in her hometown of Klintsy, Russia, discovered that Yulia had a form of congenital heart disease that has left an expanding hole in the septum wall between the left and right sides of her heart.

The only way to treat the condition is open-heart surgery. Doctors would go in and patch the hole, at an estimated cost of $80,000.

Yulia first came to Boston with the Dedham-basedChernobyl Children Project USA during the summer of 2008. She lived with Kasey and her family in Canton and developed a close relationship with them.

“During her time here, she was basically a sister to me,” Kasey said.

That same summer, cardiologists at the Floating Hospital for Children in Boston confirmed that Yulia would need to undergo open-heart surgery to repair the growing hole in her heart.

Doctors said the operation would need to be done in the next few years for her to survive, but Yulia had to return home to Russia without any way to pay for the surgery.

“It was really devastating,” Kasey recalled. “I thought we needed to be doing something now.”

So Kasey acted quickly. After visiting Yulia and her family in Russia the following April, Kasey created a DVD of Yulia’s story with images of her life. She distributed the DVD to family, friends and local businesses, asking for donations. Through these efforts, she raised nearly $60,000. The Ray Tye Medical Aid Foundation offered to pay the remaining $20,000 needed for the operation.

Patty Doyle, president of the Chernobyl Children Project, said Yulia will return to Boston on Jan. 18 with her family. Doyle said Yulia’s parents are extremely grateful for the efforts of Kasey and others’ efforts, describing the drive and the surgery as a Christmas miracle.

“I just feel this project gives her parents such a gift,” Doyle said. “Now they can move forward with confidence and live a happy and healthy life.”

Kasey’s relationship with Yulia also led her to change her own life. A sophomore at the University of Wisconsin in Whitewater, she will transfer to the Madison campus this month so she can switch her major to Russian, with a pre-med emphasis.

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NUCLEAR TOXINS

People can suffer in a host of ways after a nuclear plant explodes, as the one in Chernobyl did, or when other radioactive materials get out of a plant. Here are descriptions of some nuclear toxins that could have devastating health effects.

Plutonium

Plutonium is the most toxic nuclear element that man has produced. It only forms in a nuclear reaction; it is nonexistent in nature. The body recognizes plutonium just as it would iron, absorbing it into red blood cells and muscles. When taken in, plutonium may cause blood disorders, leukemia, lymphoma, multiple myeloma and other forms of cancer.

Cesium 137

This chemical behaves like potassium when ingested, and is incorporated into rapidly growing cells throughout the body. Heavy concentrations of Cesium 137 in humans can lead to gastrointestinal and blood problems.

Iodine 131

This iodine is concentrated in the thyroid gland, especially during periods of rapid growth. Radioactive iodine is thought to be responsible for a marked increase in thyroid cancer cases recently seen in children.

Strontium 90

When ingested, Stronium 90 acts similarly to calcium and becomes part of the bone structure. When this happens, it can spur types of bone and bone marrow cancers.

Source:Chernobyl Children Project USA