Rotary bestows another Gift of Life

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Oceanside club hosts 2-year-old in need of heart surgery

      ladislav Yakimov, 2, probably won't remember much about his trip from Russia to America, but he'll certainly have plenty of photos to remind him of his afternoon adventure at the Oceanside Fire Department's Salamander Truck Company.
      The Oceanside Rotary Club brought Vlad and his mother, Elena Petrenko, from their native Smolenks, about 300 miles east of Moscow, to Long Island so the boy could have life-saving surgery to close a hole in his heart. Vlad is one of more than 10,000 children from 64 countries brought to the US for surgery through the Gift of Life program, which started as a project of the Manhasset Rotary Club in 1975.
      "The Gift of Life is one of the best programs that the Rotary does," said Oceanside Rotary Club President, Jeff Toback, who also serves on the state legislature. The GOL program facilitates free medical services to children suffering from congenital heart defects, by identifying them, transporting them, treating them and helping them to recuperate. It is a joint effort between Rotarians, volunteers and healthcare professionals, many of which donate services at no charge. Elliot Liebner, a director with the Gift of Life, said that the program also receives a lot of community support with donations from private benefactors and businesses.
      The program is important, Liebner said, because it offers medical care to children that might otherwise not live to adulthood. In Vlad's case, the hole in his heart will be closed with a procedure that uses a catheter and takes approximately a half hour, said Irina Davidson, an interpreter with the Gift of Life who is assisting Vlad and Petrenko. After the surgery, which will take place next week, she said Vlad should be released from the hospital in less than two days. If he was to have the surgery in Russia, Davidson said, it would be an open-heart procedure that would take several hours and involve a lengthy post-operative recovery. "It's an easier, safer procedure here," said Davidson.
      After the Rotary's meeting March 18, where Vlad and Petrenko were special guests, the group headed out to the Salamander Truck Company to give the boy -- who loves trucks -- a special treat.
      "Look how big it is," Vlad exclaimed excitedly when he saw the trucks, according to David Sheynberg, 14, a Russian-speaking student at Oceanside High School who though the Interact Club - a Rotary-in-training organization - helped with some translations. Sheynberg said that as Vlad was sitting in the fire truck, he said, "Let's go, let's move." After climbing up in the truck, Vlad spent some time ringing it's bell in front of TV news cameras before receiving a special teddy bear and t-shirt with the department's logo.
      Sheynberg said that meeting Vlad has been an inspiration. "When I first visited them, it overwhelmed me to see how much good we can do in the world," he said.
      Toback agrees. "It really infuses energy into the club when we host a child," he said, "and it really brings out the best in all of our members and really reminds us why we are in the club."
            
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