Why a month in the Midlands is a lifeline for children of Chernobyl
It was a plea from the heart, from one mother to another. And when Ann Becke received a letter from Vere Putzini, a teacher in Belarus back in 1995, she knew she had to do something.
Vere's 17-year-old son, Alexey, had contracted thyroid cancer as a result of the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in 1986. The prognosis wasn't good, his illness was likely to prove terminal, but his mother had been told that a few weeks living in the relatively unpolluted environment of the West Midlands could make all the difference.
"She wrote to me saying 'I'm writing this letter in desperation because both my boys are ill'. She said there seemed to be so much help for pretty young girls and little boys, but nobody was helping teenage boys."
Almost a quarter of a century, on Alexey is now a proud married father, and jokes that Ann is his daughter Ksenia's 'third grandma'. But his happy domestic life, with wife Katya, would have seemed a wild dream during his time as a sickly teenager.
He puts his improvement in health down to his regular stays with Ann, her husband David sons and their two sons James and Paul at their home in Kinver, near Stourbridge. The chance to breathe clean air and eat uncontaminated food for one month a year helps him to cleanse his body from radioactive material which still blights his home country. One month away from the pollution of Chernobyl can bring two years' worth of health benefits.
The disaster is back in the spotlight as a result of the Sky television drama Chernobyl, which has lifted the lid on many of the political shenanigans that went on as the then Soviet government tried to keep the lid on the problem and save face as the world watched on.
Watch the trailer for Chernobyl:
Ann, a former non-executive director of the Dudley Group of Hospitals, co-founded the Kinver branch of the Chernobyl Children's Lifeline charity since 1994 with some friends.
Her sister Jean Shakespeare-Taylor had seen a television documentary Igor: The Courage of Chernobyl's Child, and the pair decided they wanted to do something to help. The branch, which covers Dudley, Wolverhampton, Bridgnorth and the surrounding areas, will welcome 15 youngsters and an interpreter from Belarus next month. The children will spend four weeks living with host families in the area, and their stay will include visits to Warwick Castle, Bewdley Canoe Club and West Midland Safari Park, and they will also meet some police dogs and enjoy a disco at the end of their stay.
The charity's Shropshire branch will also be hosting 12 children for four weeks starting on July 13.
Branch chairman Jane Elliott, from Shrewsbury, has been involved with the charity for 22 years, and like with Ann and Jean, it was a television programme which tugged at the heart strings.
"It's so rewarding," says the retired care worker. "The children we are bringing over next month have never left their home town before, they have never been on a plane."
The youngsters are from Khoniki in the Gomel region.
"It is a highly contaminated area, right on the edge of the exclusion zone," says Jane.
She says the average wage in the region they are from is just £100 a month, and the Jane is collecting items for them to take home with them.
"We have got plenty of toiletries, we are now asking people for money towards shoes and winter clothes," she says. "We want to send them home with 30 kilos (66lbs) of luggage."
Back in Kinver, Ann is not sure precisely how many Chernobyl children she has brought over the years, but estimates it to be more than 600.
"We often have four staying with us," she says.
Ann and David were planning to host two 11-year-olds this summer, but have agreed to take two more boys, aged 14 and 15, after Alexey asked for her help.
"Yaraslav and Misha have both developed bone cancer," says Ann.
"Both are in remission, but need respite care away from the bombardment of radiation that they live with on a daily basis.
"One of their mothers is a work colleague of Alexey. She knew of Alexey’s story of his surviving thyroid cancer and secondaries, so when the specialists told her it was imperative to get her boy out of the country for respite care to help improve his immune system she went and asked Alexey if he could help.
"I could not say no. Both boys who became friends in the hospital have had operations and chemotherapy and are currently in remission. They need a boost to their immune systems away from ingesting contaminated food."
Taking the extra two children will cost £1,256 in airfares, visas and transport, so Ann and David took to social media and asked their friends for extra help.
"People were wonderful. It was a special day when I told Alexey he could be proud of himself and go and tell his colleague that he had secured the boys the respite they need."
Many will be surprised that children as young as 11 are suffering from the effects of a disaster that took place some 22 years before they were born.
"Often, it will be passed from the mother or father, particularly if they were going through puberty at the time of the explosion," says Ann.
Thyroid cancer
Around the city of Belarus city of Gomel, one third of children up to the age of four are expected to develop thyroid cancer during their lifetime, according to the World Health Organisation. This accounts for about 50,000 children. Cancer rates in the region have increased by 50 per cent since the disaster.
In Belarus, 85 per cent of children are deemed to be Chernobyl victims, carrying genetic markers that could affect their health at any time. They are also unlikely to be the last generation affected, as the defects can be passed on to their children.
In the Ukraine, 6,000 children are born every year with genetic heart defects. There has been a 200 percent increase in birth defects and a 250 percent increase in congenital birth deformities in children born in the Chernobyl fallout area since 1986.
Ann has visited Belarus several times, and says the devastation hits you as soon as you step off the plane.
"People used to say you smell it, and when you land there is something about the atmosphere that is not quite right, whether that is psychological I don't know."
Radioactive
She says two years ago a truck was stopped at the US-Canada border after the Geiger counters detected what was suspected to be a 'dirty' bomb.
"It was actually loaded with berries from the Ukraine. Some of the berries there are very highly contaminated, and others are not so radioactive, so they mix them up and distribute them."
Ann says many of the themes raised by the television series, particularly the attempts to cover the disaster up as the ailing Soviet regime sought to save face, are very familiar to those who lived through it .
"Belarusian people feel aggrieved they were never told what was going on," she says.
Ann says her work with the charity has changed her life in a way she would never have expected at the beginning, giving her a huge extended family.
Proud
She remembers the time she, David and her youngest son Paul went to Alexey's home in Belarus as guests at his wedding.
"We were treated as family and I was incredibly proud. As his mum and I stood side by side we both cried together. We danced, played games and toasted the bride and groom until well after midnight.
"It has brought my family and I such immense pleasure over the years and taught us to be more grateful for the life we have.
"I don't regret a single minute."
*To make donations towards the Shropshire Children's Chernobyl Lifeline appeal, email CCLLShropshire@gmail.com or telephone Jane Elliott on 07846 172750.
