Humanitarian leader from Tipperary fears that 'the worst is yet to come' if the war in Ukraine escalates

The Irish humanitarian, Adi Roche, is warning that the full extent of the Chernobyl disaster has not yet been realised, and that worse is on the horizon if the war in Ukraine escalates further.

Despite the ongoing ravages of war, Chernobyl Children International (CCI) have an international Cardiac Surgical Mission in Ukraine, saving the lives of children born with congenital heart defects, such as the deadly "Chernobyl Heart". 

Adi Roche, who is originally from Clonmel, issued her warning on the 38^th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster

The CCI-funded Cardiac Mission takes place in the shadow of increasing nuclear threat, as Russian forces continue to occupy the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.  In the weeks leading up to the Cardiac Mission to Lviv, the situation at Zaporizhzhia deteriorated even further as deliberate drone attacks plagued the nuclear facility.  

Speaking about the team’s decision to continue in their mission despite the heightened risk, Roche said:

“It is more important than ever that we continue to deliver life-saving assistance and support to people suffering in this region.  The heroic 12-person team ran a gauntlet to travel to Ukraine to help as many children with 'Chernobyl Heart', which is a condition that they cannot live with, but will die with, without surgical intervention”. 

The heart has been identified as one of the organs most vulnerable to the effects of radiation.  Research has proven that the impact of that single nuclear accident is cross-generational, highlighting how Chernobyl remains an unfolding tragedy and its effects on people’s health and the environment will be felt for hundreds of years to come. 

In recent years, European Commission-funded studies identified that 70 percent of young people in the Chernobyl regions suffered conditions that affected the heart and endocrine organs.

CCI’s Cardiac Missions, which have directly saved the lives of over 4,200 children, had traditionally been based in Kharkiv. However, the teams have been chased by war from east to west.  

As a result of the mass exodus of qualified medical personnel and the deliberate targeting of medical facilities by invading forces, the hospital in Lviv, where CCI’s programme is based, is the last remaining hospital in Ukraine with the ability to safely conduct complex paediatric cardiac surgery.  

Among the volunteers in this critical cardiac mission is 21-year-old Lena Guenebaut-Cudmore, a UCC nursing student and  Cork City woman.

“The accident at Chernobyl happened as a result of faults in the technology and human error.  However, if a nuclear accident happens at Zaporizhzhia, it could very well be intentional. We cannot overstate the current critical situation and nuclear threat in Ukraine. 

"We must do everything in our power to prevent Zaporizhzhia from becoming the next Chernobyl.  We neglect Ukraine at our peril,” Adi Roche has cautioned.