By Mark Ellis –
After playing with her family one night, 13-year-old Kyiv, Ukraine schoolgirl Dana Bondarchuk retired for the evening and began reading for her school assignment.
“Before going to sleep Dana was reading ‘Alice in the Wonderland.’ I think it disturbed her so much that in her sleep she was trying to run away from something scary,” her mother Katya told Mercy Projects.
Katya and her husband Vadim live in a small, two-room apartment in Kyiv with their three children. They attend Christ Hope Church.
“At one o’clock in the morning while everyone was sleeping, Katya woke up suddenly to hear groaning sounds coming from the children’s bedroom. She ran into the room to see her daughter, Dana, lying on the floor with blood pooling around her ear,” according to Mercy Projects.
Dana was in distress. “Mama, my head hurts. My ear hurts,” she kept repeating.
“I lifted Dana from the floor and hugged her,” Katya recounted. “I felt something wet and saw blood pouring out from Dana’s ear and nose. She started vomiting blood.”
Dana’s parents called an ambulance immediately, which took Dana to a local hospital.
A CT scan of Dana’s brain revealed open temporal bone fractures, severe cerebral contusion, and hematoma. Cerebrospinal fluid was leaking through Dana’s ear.
“Those first few nights were sleepless,” Katya said.
Their local church was notified and began to pray. “Christian Hope Church is well known in Kyiv and they prayed for Dana’s healing night and day for four weeks,” according to Mercy Projects.
Dana Spent a Month in the Hospital
Katya stayed in her daughter’s hospital room for the first two weeks. Multiple CT scans were performed the following days and weeks to monitor the growth of the hematoma and internal bleeding.
“We praise God that her hematoma stopped growing and the doctors decided on the non-surgical treatment,” Katya said.
Today, Dana is at home and her condition is stable. The hematoma has not increased and the fluid stopped leaking out of the ear. However, she remains under a doctor’s care and is taking antibiotics, IV fluids and other medications.
Outward appearances are encouraging, but Dana’s earaches and headaches continue. “We are worried that this contusion could later cause epilepsy or other brain problems,” Valya, a Mercy Projects childcare worker, reported.
“Both parents are former drug addicts who came to Christ and have been sober for
several years. They regularly minister to other drug addicts. Due to her past drug use, Katya is HIV positive, as well as her youngest son who she was pregnant with at the time,” according to Mercy Projects.
“They are depending on God for all of their needs. The treatment is very expensive for them, but they have experienced miracles before.”
If you would like to make a gift to help support this family, go here
