A six-year-old boy from Belarus who is critically ill with a heart condition has been examined by doctors in Dublin after arriving for a possible life-saving operation. Alexei Chepurnoi was admitted to Temple Street Children's Hospital where he was examined by doctors. He was flown to Shannon Airport yesterday from Belarus by the Chernobyl Children's Project. He was then flown to Dublin.
Alexei has suffered a series of strokes caused by the condition known as Chernobyl heart disease. However, it is a curable disease, once the medicine and expertise are available.
Ms Adi Roche, executive director of the Chernobyl Children's Project, found Alexei last week in a tour of the Gomel region. When Ms Roche first saw the boy she described him as being "completely purple, unable to move and completely lethargic".
Ms Roche said she "asked the boy's mother what was wrong and she said he was going to die within a month" because local hospitals did not have the facilities to help. Alexei had a heart operation in Moscow three years ago but there was no money available for a second.
Alexei's father, Mr Mikaili Chepurnoi, accompanied him yesterday. His mother, Tatiania, could not fly because she does not have a passport. Also accompanying Alexei is his doctor, Dr Irina Kalmarovich.
The boy's home, in the Gomel region, is within the 100km exclusion zone which continues to suffer from radioactive contamination caused by the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.