Sofya, girl with deformed face, and two-year-old Muhamadzhon flew to Israel for treatment

UFA, 19 November 2019. /Bashinform News Agency/ translated by Tatiana Aksyutina/.

The four-year-old Sofya Gizatullina and a pupil of the orphanage - two-year-old Muhamadzhon were the first lucky ones to go from Ufa to the Israeli Horev clinic of Dr. Barak. Both children have severe congenital malformations. Due to a special project that emerged as part of the Russian-Israeli Medical Forum, the kids will go to Israel for diagnostic procedures.

“This project is being serviced bilaterally: by the Republic of Bashkortostan and the clinic of Dr. Barak,” explained Liliya Galikhanova, project manager of the Horev clinic in Ufa. “Young patients will be examined and it will be decided whether they will undergo treatment in Israel or they can be operated on by doctors in the capital of Bashkiria.”

The region follows the story of little Sonya, which has a deformed face and webbed fingers, for about three months. The girl’s life changed when the Head of Bashkiria Radiy Khabirov joined in solving the problems of the Gizatullins family. The mother and daughter moved from a dilapidated house to a modern apartment in the city of Sterlitamak.

The two-year-old Muhamadzon suffers from a tracheostomy. The boy has a congenital malformation of the maxillofacial area: an underdeveloped lower jaw, a retraction of the tongue and a cleft palate. Also, the baby can hardly breathe and eat on his own.

Sofya’s mom will accompany her on the trip, and Muhamazhon will be accompanied by a rehabilitation physician. According to Liliya Galikhanova, the documents are all prepared, the guardianship gave permission to leave.

“In the future, we plan to identify children with complex diagnoses in the republic and send them for examination and, possibly, treatment to the Israeli clinic of Dr. Barak,” said the project manager. “It is also possible in the future to open a branch of the Horev clinic in Ufa.”

Ufa and Israeli doctors plan to identify and examine not only children (on a charitable basis) but adults too.