Charity donates €80k device to Chernobyl after documentary
The Cork-based Hope Foundation offered to donate an €80,000 anaesthetic machine to the Chernobyl Children’s Project International (CCPI) after the screening of the powerful documentary The Children beyond Chernobyl on RTÉ on Wednesday night.
The heart-rending programme about the work of the Chernobyl charity included scenes of a child being strapped to a chair in a grotty operating room. The young boy, who begged not to be tied to a chair, was blindfolded before having his tonsils removed without anaesthetic.
He screamed in agony as doctors sliced the tonsils from his throat before blood poured from his nose. After the brutal procedure, he was unstrapped and walked from the room.
CCPI director Adi Roche was in the operating room at the time. She said beforehand she realised how harrowing the procedure would be but was still visibly shaken afterwards.
The Hope Foundation, which works with the street children of Calcutta, said it was deeply moved by the scenes.
“I watched the programme and was so upset at what I saw,” said Madeleine Cummins, the manager of The Hope Foundation.
Two specialist anaesthetic machines were donated to the foundation earlier this year, one of which is now being used to full capacity at its hospital for street children in Calcutta.
The second machine is still in its crate in a Cork warehouse and is ready for shipment.
Ms Cummins said the foundation felt that the machine should go to Chernobyl where the need is greatest.
“Children are children the world over — whether it is on the streets of Calcutta or Chernobyl and we are delighted that we can be of assistance to CCPI,” she said.
It is understood both charities will liaise in the coming days to arrange for the collection and shipment of the machine to a site in Belarus.
