A five-year-old Ukrainian boy with leukaemia who fled war-torn Kyiv on medical advice has arrived in Cork where he hopes to get life-saving treatment.
Leonid Shapoval and his family were urged by his doctors last week to leave Ukraine, just days before he was due to get a bone marrow transplant. His mother’s aunt Victoria Walden, who lives in Cork, told RTÉ that the doctors were unequivocal.
“The doctor gave Yana [the mother] all Leonid’s documents and said: ‘Run, just run. There is no way he is going to get any more treatment. We have to send him home. Because of war, we don’t know what’s going to happen’.”
This is 5-year old Leonid Shapoval. Last Thursday, his treatment for leukaemia was halted in #Ukraine because of the Russian invasion. This afternoon he was being medically assessed in #Schull, West #Cork, with a view to resuming his treatment at an Irish hospital ASAP. @rtenews pic.twitter.com/rI708bToXh
— Paschal Sheehy (@PaschalSheehy) March 1, 2022
Leonid was due to get the transplant on 10 March after weeks of chemotherapy. He was able to travel to Ireland after the government lifted visa restrictions in response to the Russian invasion.
A Gofundme page launched by a relative has raised more than €40,000 to pay for his treatment.
There were emotional scenes as the boy and his parents arrived at Dublin airport on Monday night with just one suitcase, having crossed from Ukraine into Poland by land and then gone to Zurich.
They were welcomed by Michael Collins, the independent TD for Cork South West, who was involved in the rescue mission, and officials from the department of foreign affairs. The family were taken to Ballydehob in west Cork, where Walden lives.
