Visitors from Chernobyl area to be treated at Medical Center
DANVILLE, Va. (June 18, 2006) - Twenty years after the world's worst nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the children of those who survived continue to face health problems due to radiation.
Three children from the nation of Belarus, just a few miles from Chernobyl, are in Danville for six weeks to receive free health care at Danville Regional Medical Center and learn about life in the United States. They are guests of a church-sponsored program coordinated by the American Belarussian Relief Organization.
"Our main goal is to give their bodies a rest from radiation for six weeks and to provide a loving, caring environment," says Barbara Pleasant of Danville, the local coordinator. "They need to be removed from their current environment to give their immune system a chance to recover."
Key to their care will be a visit to Danville Regional Medical Center's Children’s Healthcare Center. The youngsters staying with local families - Viktor Herbach, 10, Krystsina Yarmolenka, 16, and 15-year-old Artsem Fitsner - will have a battery of physical, dental and eye exams. The group's chaperone is Viyaleta Zaretskaya.
"While our visitors are generally in good health, we want to provide comprehensive check-ups and testing to ensure their future wellness," said Dr. Robert E. Broughton Jr., who is coordinating the physical exams. "The important thing is that their bodies get some rest from a radioactive environment." Organizers are grateful for the Medical Center's donated care.
"The hospital has been very generous to us," said the Rev. Bruce Wilson of West Main Street Baptist Church, which is sponsoring their visit.
The young Belarussians will be in Danville through July 22. They are among more than 600 children from the country staying with families in the United States, many in Virginia and North Carolina. Pleasant says host families will take them to the mountains, beaches and lakes and church activities to enjoy their stay. Above all, she says, the children love swimming pools and aisles of fresh fruit - both not possible in the shadow of a nuclear accident. "To them, it's like Disney World anywhere they go," Pleasant says.
Danville Regional is the leading medical center in the Dan River Region of Virginia and North Carolina, providing open-heart surgery and advanced cancer treatment. Approximately 140 physicians are on the medical staff. The Medical Center employs approximately 1,540 people. Learn more at: www.danvilleregional.com.
