A child diagnosed with cancer goes for treatment in Italy with support of Ivano-Frankivsk JSC

Recently, during a meeting with the Vice-President of the National Federation of Italian Journalists/ vice-chair of the Lombardy Union of Journalists/member of the executive committee of the European Federation of Journalists, Anna Del Freo, and Italian volunteers that was held at the Ivano-Frankivsk Journalists’ Solidarity Center (JSC) of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU), in addition to discussing the activities of journalists in conditions of war, its participants discussed the provision of assistance to children diagnosed with cancer from Ukraine.

The president of the Italian association, Anteas Alessandria, who works in the national syndicate Cisl and volunteer Luciano Cartolano, said that they are implementing a project for the treatment of children with cancer. The Italian volunteer organization Anteas is ready to accept four such children for treatment. In particular, they now have an agreement with two Italian clinics, in Turin and Ancona, which will be able to take two children for free treatment together with one of their parents.

Today, October 5, the first child, born in 2009, arrived from the Ivano-Frankivsk Region for treatment at the Turin Pediatric Hospital, Regina Margherita, together with his mother.

We are sincerely grateful for the assistance in the implementation of the project to our colleague from the Union/head of the Information Department of the Ivano-Frankivsk Archdiocese of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, Ivan Stefurak, and Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital.

“I am excited, touched, and happy at the same time; Maria S. arrived today. She had a very long journey with her mother from Ivano-Frankivsk to Turin to be treated here at Reggina Margherita in Turin. She is now in her own bed, being cared for by a wonderful medical staff. I saw her, I spoke to her mother. She is in good hands. I saw Mary’s eyes; I saw the desire to heal and return home to grow up, to live life – to tell the world that there are people who, no matter what, help those who need it. I give a big hug to those who fought for Maria to come here in three days,” commented Luciano Cartolano.

“A beautiful thing, born from the extraordinary idea of the Anteas association, thanks to Maurizio Maraschi and Luciano Cartolano, Father Ivan Stefurak, who helped to realize the proposal. Maria is in the hearts of all of us; we all hope for her recovery with great hope,” said Anna Del Freo.

Viktoriya Plakhta,

Ivano-Frankivsk JSC coordinator