Two children suffering from severe burns as a result of the war in Ukraine have arrived in Boston for treatment amid Russia's invasion of their homeland.
Shriners Children's Boston, the only verified pediatric burn center in New England, welcomed in the two young children earlier this week via air ambulance, the hospital announced.
The two arrived in Boston late Wednesday, each one accompanied by one of their parents. Shriners doctors said it took nearly three weeks to bring the children to the hospital as planes aren't able to fly into Ukraine due to the war. The children were instead brought to Poland, where they received care until they could board a flight to the U.S.
Doctors at Shriners Children's Boston said Friday that the two children are a 2-year-old girl and a 17-month-old boy who both sustained serious burns over the majority of their bodies from scalding hot water, MassLive.com reports. Dr. Gennadiy Fuzaylov said the girl was injured about a month ago in Kyiv, leaving burns across 70% of her body, the news site reports. The boy suffered burns over about 55% of his body after being injured in Lviv, he said. Doctors said they'll continue removing dead tissue and constructing skin grafts to help the two recover, according to MassLive.com. They said it generally takes about a day to recover for each percent of the body that's burned.
The Shriners Children's health care system is based in Tampa, Florida, and operates more than 20 medical facilities in North America. It says it's provided medical help to Ukrainian children dating as far back as the 1990s for children affected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
"Due to the current state of affairs in Ukraine, the country's medical infrastructure is understandably challenged,'' John McCabe, executive vice president of the Shriners Children's healthcare system, said in a statement. "We are uniquely positioned to help these children from Ukraine, because our physicians, nurses and therapists have extensive experience in providing care for children who suffer life-threatening burn injuries, including in natural disaster or other urgent situations.''
