During the Russian attack on Thursday (10) Ukraine, Dr. Porsurov roamed the city in an ambulance, without being intimidated by the bangs of the explosions and the sounds of the drones that were flying over.
He was determined to deliver a precious burden: a human heart. The patient – a child – was severely ill in a hospital. He had only a few hours to act.
The child has been living with heart disease for several years, but his condition worsened earlier this week, and the doctor knew that a new heart was the only chance to save her.
Thus, when the agency was made available by a donor on the opposite side of the city, he did not wait for them.
The country has intensified air strikes against Ukraine, firing over 400 drones and 18 missiles, including eight ballistic missiles and six cruise over the past few weeks.
Although the Ukrainian Air Force managed to shoot or disable the vast majority of those, two people died and dozens of others were injured in Thursday (10). Moscow launched over 700 drones – a new record – against Ukraine in a single night.
And while the Ukrainian authorities appealed to people to hide in anti -aircraft shelters, Doctor Todurov and his team made a 16 -kilometer trip from Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in western Kiev to the city’s heart institute on the eastern bank of the Dnipre River.
“The heart is working”
Dr. Todurov and his team worked nonstop during the two nights of attacks.
Crossing the Dnipre River by a bridge is extremely dangerous during an attack, because vehicles are exposed and Ukrainian air defenses target drones and Russian missiles when they are above river to minimize the impact of the wreckage fall.
A video made during the trip to the hospital shows a large fire burning near the road while Todurov goes in front. “We are carrying a heart,” said the doctor calmly.
The Russian attack on the capital was still underway when the doctor entered the Institute of Heart Operations Room, heading a large team and transplanting his heart to his patient’s body.
At an impressive moment captured by the camera and shared with the CNNthe new heart is seen beating inside the patient’s chest, a few hours after being led by Kiev during the Russian attack.
“The heart is working and the pressure is stable. We hope (the patient) recovers and lives a long and full life,” said the doctor.
Other lives were also saved
The Ukraine Transplant Coordination Center said in a statement that the donor was a four -year -old girl who was declared with brain death by medical advice after suffering serious injuries. The girl’s mother, who is a doctor, agreed to donate her daughter’s organs.
And so, at the moment Todurov was transplanting the girl’s heart to her patient’s body, her kidneys were being transplanted to a 14 -year -old boy and a 16 -year -old girl, the center said.
The other two patients were at Okhmatdyt Hospital, so there was no need to carry the organs to them.
The coordination center said two of the three receivers were in critical condition and, if they had not received the transplants, would only have a few days or weeks of life.
“May the little donor rest in peace. Our condolences to her family and gratitude for her difficult but important decision,” said the center.
