Hospitals and doctors all over Europe work to get young patients out of Ukraine: "We have to do everything"
Millions of people have fled Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. Some are dealing not only with the trauma of war but also with serious health conditions, like cancer.
Hundreds of young patients have made the dangerous trip out of their war-torn country to Poland, where they're now fighting a different battle. Two critical pediatric patients were driven by civilian volunteers overnight from Lviv to Warsaw. One of those patients, 13-year-old Kirill, was rushed into the operating room hours after his arrival. It was his 36th surgery.
Dr. Radek Chaber, the head of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology at the Medical University in Rzeszow, about an hour from the Ukrainian border, told CBS News they are treating patients from Ukraine that have serious conditions like cancer and hematological diseases.
To have the best chance at recovery, doctors say it's paramount that seriously ill patients not have their treatment disrupted. But in a war zone, nothing is guaranteed. The U.S.-based St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital partnered with hospitals and doctors all over Europe to get the most vulnerable out.
So far, 28 countries and more than 201 clinics across the world are offering support for young patients.
Yarsalava, who has acute leukemia, was transported from Ukraine and was on her way to Ireland when she developed a serious infection. Her mother said that since arriving in Poland, Yaraslava has gotten the treatment she needs, and the family, including her two young siblings, have been allowed to live in her hospital room until she's ready to be moved.
"These children from Ukraine could, might not be treated, not be cured, without treatment outside Ukraine. And probably the big part of them would die, probably," Chaber told CBS News' Christina Ruffini.
"So you're saying for these cancer patients to survive now you think they probably need to be treated outside Ukraine or they may not survive?" Ruffini asked.
"Yes. So, we have to do everything. Every patient from Ukraine now should be, possibility, to be treated somewhere outside," Chaber responded.
Doctors treating these patients report that about 400 children have been evacuated from Ukraine since the start of the confclit, with about 150 more expected to arrive this week.