NEWS AND VIEWS

We believe in miracles

by Wasyl Lysecky

Slavko Semchyshyn was born in 1990 with a genetic birth defect that causes the corneas to be covered over by extension of the whites (sclera) of the eye. In Slavko's case, this defect occurred in both eyes. For all intents and purposes, Slavko was blind.

The tragedy of his defect was compounded by the misfortune of his being born in Soviet-occupied Ukraine, where less than perfect children were not welcome - they were seen as potential burdens on the system. Slavko was taken away from his mother immediately after delivery and placed in a nursery, where he received only water. The intent was for the defective infant to die.

But God had other things in mind for Slavko.

His parents and grandparents fought constantly for custody of Slavko - defying a cruel system that wanted to destroy him. After four months they succeeded and Slavko came home to a loving, nurturing and supportive family.

Two years later, Dr. William Selezinka, an American ophthalmologist who had been born in the same region of Ukraine as Slavko, met the little boy and his mother during his first visit to a free Ukraine in 1992. Dr. Selezinka had established a new humanitarian mission in the hopes of rehabilitating a decimated ophthalmology program in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine.

The following year Dr. Selezinka brought Slavko, his mother and a Ukrainian ophthalmologist to St. Louis, Mo., to the Anheuser-Busch Eye Institute. Dr. David Schanzlin agreed to evaluate Slavko for a possible cornea transplant in an effort to provide vision to the child. The surgery was performed and on July 3, 1993, and Slavko Semchyshyn saw his mother's face for the first time. The following evening, Slavko saw fireworks high in the sky over the Mississippi River.

Eight years later, Slavko began showing signs that his body was rejecting the cornea transplant. During this time, both Dr. Schanzlin and Dr. Selezinka had relocated to San Diego - Dr. Schanzlin to UCSD Shiley Eye Center, and Dr. Selezinka to a retirement in which he could devote 100 percent of his time to his humanitarian work in Ukraine.

Last year, when Slavko's cornea failed, Dr. Selezinka began the process necessary to once again bring him and his mother to America for a second cornea transplant. Finally they arrived in San Diego and on March 25 Slavko received his second cornea transplant under the skilled hands of Dr. Schanzlin. The day after his surgery, when the eye patch was removed, his first words were, "I see, I see!" Later that same day, Slavko saw a rainbow.

For a kid who was supposed to just die, Slavko has done remarkably well. He reads, writes and speaks four languages (Ukrainian, Russian, Polish and English). He is highly intelligent and can carry on a conversation at an adult level in any of the four languages on subjects ranging from geography to politics, from music to philosophy and theology. And, of course, cars. After all, Slavko is a 13-year-old boy.

Slavko Semchyshyn is a miracle. He is a testament to the goodness of people in the free world; he is the embodiment of the miraculous love of God, and the undying faith of his family.

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, July 27, 2003, No. 30, Vol. LXXI

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