8 Surgeries later, Ukrainian girl injured by Russian missile leaves JMH
MIAMI - The conflict in Ukraine has hurt or killed an estimated 1,000 children, and it could continue to climb. Some hospitals in the region are so overwhelmed it's hard to give them the care they need. That's why a team of volunteers has been working to help a 6-year-old girl hurt by a Russian missile that wiped out her family's home.
She was severely hurt and was brought to Jackson Memorial Hospital for treatment in February. Thursday after a couple of surgeries she's leaving.
"We were hiding in the corner and Alisa asked to get some water and I stepped away to get her some water and at the same moment there was a huge explosion, and there was darkness and silence, and then I heard her screaming," Konstiantyn Kulzhnska, Alisa's father said through a translator.
It's the moment a Russian missile hit the family's apartment in Kherson, Ukraine. Kulzhnska then had to dig his wife and daughter out of this rubble.
"Then she was taken to Kyiv. She had 8 surgeries," he said.
They lost everything that night, December 23rd and since then they've been trying to get the proper treatment for Alisa's injuries that have affected her eyesight, legs, face and hearing.
"Now here in Miami she's had two surgeries," her dad said.
A reporter the family spoke with in Ukraine made was able to make contact with the Romulus T. Weatherman Foundation, they ultimately brought the family here to Miami.
"I'm fine," Alisa said.
Thursday Alisa and her family felt a bit of happiness as they prepared to leave the Ronald McDonald House they were staying at during her treatment.
"This family really needed to be together, like I said it was a very tragic moment," Soraya Rivera-Moya, RMCH Executive Director said.
She's progressed enough to leave the hospital, now they family will be moving to a new housing provided by the foundation.
"Alisa represents a small portion of children that are really hurting right now and we're very proud to help her."
She'll need more surgeries and treatment in the near future, as she and her family try to heal from what's happened for the rest of their lives.
"It's actually very horrible, very scary and people are suffering a lot, and the only thing I would like to have is someone to stop it," Konstiantyn added.
