Life. To be continued ...
SAVE THE SAVIOR.
Christina Kalytyuk hears again.
How do people who have regained their hearing with the help of doctors behave? There are videos about this on the Internet. Everyone’s first reaction is the same - they start crying. Of course, tears of joy. So it was with fifteen-year- old Kristina Kalityuk , who was fitted with heavy-duty hearing aids at the Kiev Hearing Center. This moment is so intimate that I did not consider myself entitled to be present at it and therefore patiently waited for a call from Christina’s grandmother.
Valentina Terentyevna is ready to talk for hours about her granddaughter on the phone, but I still asked for a meeting. The devices have just been installed, and Christina has not yet got used to her new condition. The girl literally shone with joy. I was interested to know what was going on in the doctor’s office.
"I think my eyes were square at the time," the girl explained. - With the device, I heard everything at once: how the car drove by, how the birds sang outside the window. I’ve been walking in silence lately!
The silence frightened not only Christina, but also her family. A few years ago, the girl’s hearing began to decline, doctors diagnosed "deafness 2 degrees." Christina had a hard time accepting colloquial speech, her mother and grandmother had to speak loudly. In the winter of 2015, after a sore throat, the second degree of deafness passed to the third. The girl stopped reacting to sounds, responding to her name.
"It got to the point," Grandma says, "that she could only talk to us at close range, face to face." We realized that Christina could no longer hear, but only read on her lips.
Christina began to have difficulties at school. The girl did not understand the speech of teachers and classmates, she had to constantly ask questions. Learning became more and more difficult, it threatened plans for the future.
Christina’s graduation next year. Unlike many of her peers, she decided long ago which institute she would enter. The girl is fascinated by medicine. Just in case, I ask a question about specialization, although I am almost sure of the answer: Christina wants to help children with the same diagnosis as hers. But the girl suddenly says, "I’m going to study oncology." I cautiously ask again if she knows all the features of her future profession. Christina answers that she "tried on" different specialties, but made the decision a long time ago. Grandmother confirms: “We have talked to her about this many times. But she was determined, so now we are not even discussing this choice. "
Since there is no money in the family, Christina will enter the budget, where the competition is higher. Therefore, she is already working hard at home on the subjects that she will need at the institute. I ask her if she understands that she would not be able to cope with the amount of information that needs to be assimilated in medicine without new hearing aids. Christina replies that she chose the profession four years ago, when there were no hearing problems, and is very happy that now these problems can be solved. Grandma adds that they are very grateful to Ufond and everyone who helped Christine.
And I, listening to them, think that if Christina succeeds with admission and study, then in a few years she will become a doctor. This means that those who helped Christina also helped her future patients. You could say they saved the rescuer.
Leads the columnSergey Semenov
Photo by Inna Chumak