On one of the snowy winter days 27 in January 2008 in the young Tarasenko family experienced the most important thing that can happen in the life of any family — the birth of the long-awaited, dear, and the most beloved little person, Zhorochka. But six years later, tragedy struck. 18 On March 2014 Zhora was diagnosed with a terrible disease: acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
From a letter from Georgy Tarasenko's mother:
I will never forget this day; it turned our whole lives upside down. At that moment, I for the first time in my life, felt the blood run cold in my veins, my legs give way, and my heart break into tiny pieces from savage pain, pain that cannot be described, from helplessness, from fear for the life of my most beloved, dearest, closest, and only child.
We live in a Odessa courtyard in a small house with a front garden. Zhorochka loves the children who live in the neighborhood. As soon as the street gets warmer, the doors of all the apartments open and our beloved children pour out into the yard like peas. They fill everything with their laughter, games, joy, and fun, and their childlike spontaneity becomes even warmer! Zhora loves his friends very much! She loves spending time with them, playing, roller-skating, cooking, and making cocktails from the food she brought from the house, and also picking flowers and — giving them to me with the tender and most touching words. In the world: «This is for you, Mommy.»
Zhorochka loves to cook, especially pizza, and loves creating things with his own hands. — He makes colored ice, sculpts different figures from salt dough, and much more, but the most precious — are the gifts he makes for us with his little, loving hands! We love going on walks in the park or to the sea, playing ball, building sand forts, feeding seagulls, and just being together. In this moment, time seems to stand still, and it's happiness when you see your child carefree, laughing, and having fun. I thought it would always be like this, and now I in this is sincere and I believe it with all my heart!
We started the first round of chemotherapy at Children's Regional Hospital in Odesa, in the oncohematology department. It's now our 24 protocol day. We have gathered all our strength and are ready to fight! I want to thank the people who are helping us, because thanks to your support and indifference to our pain, we are gaining more and more strength and confidence for this difficult fight!
I with all my heart hope, pray, and believe that this period will pass, and our son will be able to live, rejoice, and bring us joy, give us kindness, and be happy!
