Boris Gopenko has Hodgkin’s lymphoma. It is a highly treatable cancer, but make no mistake—the situation is VERY URGENT. The cancer has spread, and this brave young man needs to start chemotherapy treatments NOW. Only our help will make it possible!
Boris’s mother, Elena, has been a close friend of mine for 17 years, and that’s why I am doing everything I can to help her. She immigrated to Israel from Ukraine many years ago, and was granted Israeli citizenship. But due to difficulties with Israel’s immigration system, her young son, Boris, was not. Elena and Boris have made many requests for help from the Interior Ministry over the years, and have constantly been refused, even on humanitarian grounds.
Boris is a quiet young man who loves sports and has a keen interest in, of all things, medicine. He has a way with animals and is the only one who could ever take care of my cat. His life has ground to a halt because he’s forbidden to work and build a profession without legal status. And now this terrible illness. It’s hard to even think about how frightened he must be.
IMAGINE THE SITUATION: A mother, a widow, an Israeli citizen who works hard every day in modest professions, is faced with the impossible task of paying privately for life-saving chemotherapy treatment for her only son.
This should not be happening in a country like Israel, known for its universal health insurance, and for being the first to help in emergencies all over the world. And yet, it IS happening, and only we, as private citizens, can help.
PLEASE HELP US!
Boris’s most recent PET scan on Aug 16, 2022, shows that his cancer has spread. His doctor at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv has directed that he start the following chemotherapy schedule IMMEDIATELY!
(The prices below apply if there are no complications. With complications, the price will be much higher).
Three courses of treatment (5 days each).
Cost for each course: NIS 35,000.
Total for the chemo: NIS 105,000.
Plus two PET scans at NIS 5,000 each: NIS 10,000.
TOTAL: NIS 115,000 ($34,000)
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT THE AMAZING ELENA:
Elena has already nursed two loved ones with cancer. She was a building engineer in Ukraine. In Israel, she can barely make ends meet. I watched in awe as she tirelessly helped two people close to her struggle with cancer to the end. The first time was flying back and forth to care for her mother in the Ukraine. The second time, she nursed her husband, cooking him special foods, bringing pain-relieving herbs, and taking him to doctors. And now, in a terrible irony, her third “patient” is her only child.
So you can see why we are stepping in to mobilize all the help for Boris that we possibly can. He cannot get medical coverage in Israel, and he certainly cannot go back to Ukraine. Please help him get the treatment he needs to save his life.
