A CHARITY is challenging the people of Ireland to translate some of the Christmas spirit into desperately needed financial support to save hundreds of lives in Central Russia.
Greater Chernobyl Cause chief executive Fiona Corcoran said a hospital for the elderly and infirm at Ivanovskoye in Kostroma Oblast was in such a dreadful state that the government wanted to shut it down.
This would condemn the patients to the prospect of a slow and painful death, she said.
“Last winter, the only ambulance was withdrawn and with no other way to bring them to hospital, there were several cases of old people being found dead in their beds weeks after they had succumbed to the freezing conditions and left with nothing to eat. Doctors in the area have been forced to walk up to 20km a day to visit their patients.”
The Greater Chernobyl Cause in Cork has been working in the area for some years.
The charity can be contacted at its headquarters which is in the Bessbrough Centre, Blackrock, Co Cork.