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‘Our last hope’ Four stories of patients from Okhmatdyt, the Kyiv children’s hospital Russia bombed

Source: Meduza

On July 8, a Russian missile struck the Okhmatdyt hospital in Kyiv — Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital and one of the country’s oldest medical institutions. The attack killed at least two adults and mostly destroyed the hospital’s toxicology ward, as well as intensive care and surgery units. Okhmatdyt treats up to 18,000 children annually, including those with rare and severe diseases. Since the start of the full-scale war, the hospital has continued to care for children, including those injured in Russian attacks. Drawing on Okhmatdyt’s social media posts, Meduza shares four stories of Ukrainian children who received treatment at the hospital Russia destroyed.

Over the next several days, all donations to Let’s Help (a fundraiser cofounded by Meduza to support Ukrainian civilians who have suffered from Russia’s war) will go towards supporting Okhmatdyt Hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital.

Back from the brink

Three-year-old Solomiya’s symptoms began on April 12. Her fever spiked and continued to rise, landing her in the intensive care unit of a local hospital in the Zhytomyr region. She was suffering from abdominal pain and began vomiting — and then her vital organs started to fail.

“My daughter’s illness progressed too quickly. The chances of her survival were very slim. When looking for options, we learned about the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in the capital and decided to go there. Even though no one could guarantee that we’d make it to Kyiv, we took the risk and held onto our last hope,” said Solomiya’s mother, Lyudmyla.

When they arrived at the hospital in Kyiv, the little girl was admitted with severe pneumonia and significant lung damage. Doctors placed her on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), a form of life support, in Okhmatdyt’s anesthesiology and intensive care unit.

Anesthesiologist Stanislav Shkolnyi said they had to request an ECMO machine for Solomiya from the hospital’s pediatric cardiac surgery center, as the one in the ICU was already in use by another patient. The ECMO isn’t a cure, Shkolnyi explained, it just buys time to figure out what caused the pneumonia and how to treat it. “But it comes with enormous risks,” he noted. “We’re turning the patient’s normal physiology upside down.”

Even with ECMO support, Solomiya’s chances of survival were low, according to hospital staff. She remained on ECMO for 15 days, with the medical team constantly by her side. “Usually, when you take on a case like this, you practically live at the hospital. [You’re] on call 24/7, always within reach in case you need to come in,” Shkolnyi said. “This time, we had two patients [on ECMO] simultaneously, which doubled the workload on top of our regular duties.”

While on ECMO, Solomiya developed toxic shock syndrome, leading to acute kidney and liver failure. For about two weeks, doctors from different departments performed additional procedures to restore function to her damaged organs. Chief of toxicology Oleksandr Urin noted that Okhmatdyt’s doctors also consulted with specialists from Europe and the United States, who provided guidance and supplies.

After 34 days in the ICU, Solomiya no longer needed oxygen support and was transferred to the pediatric ward. By June 4, when the hospital shared her story, she had nearly made a full recovery.

Hit by a shell

In January 2024, 10-year-old Sashko and his cousin Alina were heading to a store in their hometown of Malyi Burluk in the Kharkiv region when they were caught in a Russian attack. One of the shells landed nearby, severely injuring the children. “The boy still remembers holding his severed leg close to his body to keep himself from bleeding out,” the hospital wrote.

Ukrainian soldiers evacuated the children, administered first aid, and transported them to an ambulance team. Sashko survived, but Alina passed away in the ICU 10 days after the attack.

Sashko underwent numerous surgeries in Kharkiv before being transferred to Okhmatdyt for further treatment and rehabilitation. At the Kyiv hospital, he had several more operations and began working with a physical therapist and psychologist.

By June 7, when his story was published, Sashko had spent over three months at Okhmatdyt. Over the course of his time there, he made new friends, celebrated his 11th birthday, changed his hairstyle, and met various celebrities who visited the hospital. He is currently in Lviv.

Premature twins

Sisters Solomiya and Myroslava, now five months old, were born prematurely in Sumy, weighing just 720 and 730 grams (1 pound, 9.4 ounces, and 1 pound, 9.8 ounces). Since birth, they’ve been in intensive care units in different hospitals across Ukraine, unable to breathe on their own. Doctors in Sumy also diagnosed them with retinopathy, an eye condition that can lead to blindness.

Solomiya was the first to be transferred to Okhmatdyt for urgent retinopathy treatment. Soon after, her sister was also moved to the Kyiv hospital, where both girls were placed in the neonatal intensive care unit. At Okhmatdyt, the twins were diagnosed with cytomegalovirus, which required long-term treatment. This infection can range from asymptomatic to severe, damaging internal organs and the central nervous system in newborns. Additionally, Myroslava developed pneumonia, and both girls were fitted with central venous catheters.

As of the hospital’s Telegram post on June 20, Myroslava still hadn’t begun to breathe on her own, while Solomiya had been moved to stay with her mother, who is receiving support from the hospital’s psychologists. Both girls are being fed through tubes and their treatment is ongoing.

Waiting for a kidney

On June 27, another post appeared on Okhmatdyt’s social media: the doctors and hospital staff wished a happy birthday to one of their patients, 16-year-old Solomiya.

Solomiya was born with spina bifida, a congenital defect affecting the musculoskeletal system. Since childhood, her pelvic organs haven’t functioned, and she can’t walk. When she was eight years old, her family learned that she also had stage three chronic kidney disease.

In January 2022, Solomiya contracted COVID-19, which caused her kidneys to fail completely. Shortly afterward, the full-scale war began, and it was several months before she could see a doctor in her native Rivne region. By then, her condition had become critical. She was transferred to Okhmatdyt, where she’s been undergoing treatment for over two years while she waits for a kidney transplant.

“When we got to Okhmatdyt, we were under a lot of stress. We couldn’t believe Solomiya would be on dialysis. But we were amazed when on June 1, we saw a real show at the hospital — concerts, entertainment, hospital clowns, face painting. We’d never seen anything like it. In that environment, my daughter and I could forget our problems, even if just a little,” her mother Oksana recounted.

Before the July 8 Russian missile strike, Solomiya was in the hospital’s toxicology ward, undergoing dialysis three times a week. The attack completely destroyed the Okhmatdyt building where children were receiving dialysis. On weekends, she and her mother would go home to visit Solomiya’s younger brother and sister and the family pets: a rabbit, a cat, and a guinea pig. It’s unclear what happened to her after the attack.

“Solomiya is a wonderful, beautiful, and smart girl. She loves studying and drawing cats. She always attends events at Okhmatdyt and has lots of friends,” said the hospital’s birthday post. “The day before her birthday, she shared her biggest wishes: ‘I dream of a kidney transplant, going home and petting my animals, and finally drinking water.’”

The July 8 attack on Okhmatdyt killed at least two adults, including one doctor, and injured no fewer than 16 people, including eight children.