Life-changing surgery for Chernobyl teenager
Charity volunteers from Pinxton have worked with staff at Nottingham University Hospitals, who gave their time for free to allow a teenage girl from Belarus to receive life-changing surgery.'¨Anastaysia Pilut, 14, suffered from scoliosis, a debilitating curvature in her spine which, left untreated, would have led to her becoming severely disabled.
After learning about her case from the Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline charity Consultant Masood Shafafy and his team gave their time for free, performing an 11 hour operation to straighten out the curves. Richard Street MBE, chairman of the Pinxton and East Derbyshire Link of the Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline, said the charity regularly brings children from Belarus over to the UK for a month’s respite care, but this was the first time they had been involved in helping to fund an operation. He said: “When we first found out how much it would cost we thought that it would be impossible to fund but we were determined to find a way. We were delighted when Mr Shafafy and his team agreed to waive their fees and perform the surgery for free.”