Danil’s story from his mother:
“Danil was born as a healthy child, but at the age of 9 he was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (cancer) of the left femur with metastases to the lungs. The treatment took place in Kyiv, at the National Cancer Institute. The road to recovery was long and difficult. During a year and a half, Danil has undergone more than 20 courses of chemotherapy, 4 of them high-dose, an operation to remove the tumor – together with the bone, two operations to remove the metastases from the lungs, one operation to lengthen the prosthesis. He has survived a relapse. With the first Stryker endoprosthesis installed to replace the removed bone, Danil has suffered for 2 years. The prosthesis was originally intended for an adult rather than a child. The knee did not straighten, it constantly swelled, the fluid accumulated in it and had to be pumped out at the Cancer Institute. During this time, the healthy leg grew by 7 cm. Danil has developed pains not only in the leg, but also in his curved spine.
In June 2017 at the Sitenko Institute in Kharkov, Danila was fitted with a new German growing prosthesis Mutars XPAND, which was supposed to equalize the difference in leg length. But a part of the bone crumbled during the installation of the prosthesis. The leg thus remained almost the same length as before the operation. Soon after installation, a huge fistula caused by staphylococcus bacteria has formed at the suture site on the knee. It literally began to corrode the son’s leg. The hole was so huge that the prosthesis itself could be seen through it. On the top it, six months after the operation, at the control examination, the X-ray revealed a malfunction in the block of the growing module – the prosthesis broke.”
In 2018, after 9 months of unsuccessful treatment of the staph infection in Ukraine, where Danil was simply proposed the amputation of a prosthetic leg, the family turned to Professor R. Baumgart. The treatment at the Center for Corrective Limb Surgery in Munich has included three stages and costed EUR 250,000. With the help of a German charity fund Herz für Kinder, and the Ukrainian charity funds Solnce v ladoshkah and Schastily rebenok, they managed to raise the bulk of the amount.
Over the next two years, Danil has undergone 5 operations, defeated the most difficult infection, Danil’s bones lengthened and grew to the state enabling the prosthetics. Now his health is normal, there are no side effects from the operation and procedures. Danil’s body is ready for installing a new prosthesis, which will allow him to freely move around without crutches. But the operation has been postponed indefinitely, because the debt to the clinic for the previous treatment has not been repaid. As of today, it amounts to EUR 12,076.42.