A 10-month-old child arrived in Ireland yesterday from Kazakhstan to undergo life-saving surgery.
Aiman Kopkeava was born in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, where Russia tested nuclear weapons for 40 years. The testing has caused the death rate to exceed the birth rate.
Aiman came to Ireland so that a large benign tumour can be removed from the base of her spine - an operation that doctors in her own country cannot perform.
Representatives from the Greater Chernobyl Cause flew to the former Soviet republic to rescue the child from an orphanage. Ms Fiona Corcoran and Ms Barbara Deasy of the Cork-based charity arrived at Cork Airport yesterday with Aiman, whose name means dream.
Ms Corcoran said if she had not been found the baby would have died in an orphanage cot. "The nuclear testing has caused huge devastation in the area. Aiman was abandoned shortly after birth and her fate would have been to end up in Ayaga Orphanage, where she would have just wasted away. That place is a living hell, with outdoor toilet facilities, temperatures drop to below minus 40 degrees and there is an inadequate heating system. There are 300 children crammed into this so-called children's home. It was horrifying to see babies with hydrocephalus struggling for breath and be powerless to help when told they are dying."
Ms Corcoran discovered Aiman on her last visit to the area, when the manager of the orphanage asked if she could help the child.
Aiman has come to Ireland on a medical visa and the charity needs to raise €10,000 so she can be treated.
The tumour is non-malignant but, according to Ms Corcoran, it will cause paralysis if it remains untreated. "If she stayed in the orphanage she would not have survived because they don't have the facilities or the money to carry out the procedure there."
Aiman will stay with Margaret and Jack Kenneally in Kinsale. The foster parents had an emotional introduction in the airport arrivals hall to Aiman.
"It is wonderful - she is beautiful. We first heard about her in October and we've been looking forward to this day since then," said Mrs Kenneally.
The Greater Chernobyl Cause can be contacted at 021 4300791 or 087 9536133.