Story By: Anastasia Smirnova, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder,Agency: Central European News
The Russian girl who was banned from going to nursery school because officials said her skull deformity would scare the other children has been told by doctors in Israel they cannot help her.
The desperate parents of Sofya Zakharova, 2, were told that she had to have surgery to improve her appearance before applying again to send her to the nursery school in the village of Alatany in the Sterlitamak District of The Republic of Bashkortostan.
So they flew to Israel so Sofya could have surgery but doctors there say the cannot operate on her skull.
Her mother, Svetlana Gizatullina, was reportedly told by the school that the fact that her daughter has a deformed skull and fingers and toes that were fused together might scare the other children and that she would need to have surgery before they would change their mind.
Speaking about the case, Educational Psychologist Ekaterina Belan had told local media: “The sooner she gets the experience of interactions, the easier it will be for her to cope with the conditions in which she lives and grows. The more interactions she gets, the easier it will be for her to accept herself for who she is.”
The tot’s parents Svetlana and Rasul Gizatullina have taken the girl to Israel to undergo surgery as her skull deformity led to hydrocephalus, a medical condition in which an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid occurs within the brain.
Fluid accumulates in the girl’s brain during her sleep causing her breathing and heart problems.
Mother Svetlana said: “Doctors said that that they won’t be able to operate on her skull. We had the last check yesterday and it is definitely a ‘no’. They will still have to decide about the surgery on her hands and legs because anaesthesia can affect the girl badly.”
Svetlana and Rasul Gizatullina reportedly live with their parents in an old house. There is no water and not even any heating as their stove is broken and the gas disconnected.
Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov said that officials had visited the family and authorities plan to find a flat for them so that they do not spend winter in a cold house.
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