"The child was told that that was thunder and not war"

 I remember the days when our life was normal with longing and nostalgia. In 2007, my husband and I got married In 2008, our daughter Daria was born. My husband worked in a mine, and I was a housewife. In early 2014, I got a job as a cashier.

Looking back on those days, our everyday problems seem ridiculous. We made some house repairs, bought furniture, appliances, clothes, visited children's entertainment centers with the child and went on vacation to the Crimea.

In April 2014, we saw a fighter jets  flying over the city. In May, fighting began at the airport.

The city got deserted. Everything that was happening seemed unreal. We thought that all these shooting and thumping sounds were some kind of mistake. We thought that it all was about to end, and our lives would be as before. But that did not happen.

It was scary. It was so disappointing. It was a shame that we didn't know how to protect the child from the war. We told him that it was thunder so as not to show fear. Nevertheless, she would flinch at night.

Naturally, our welfare has deteriorated. I lost my job, and the mine where my husband worked was periodically closed down. I had to save money. I had to buy only the most necessary things.

At the end of 2016, our family got in trouble. My daughter had an epileptic attack while sleeping. Then,  a day later, she had a second attack. It is difficult to express in words how much pain and suffering we had to deal with.

We spent three weeks in the hospital. The diagnosis was symptomatic epilepsy. We were given medicine that would block seizures. The one we need is made in Kyiv. It costs around 800 UAH. The period the child  had to take it was long.

Our doctor recommended that you seek help from the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation. We were surprised by the understanding and responsiveness of the Foundation's staff.

We did not expect that to be true, that someone would care for for the health of our daughter. They delivered the medicine! We really appreciate it. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the staff of the Humanitarian Center and Rinat Akhmetov himself.